


Don't Let Me Down

by Holtzmann_lover



Series: Can't Buy Me Love [5]
Category: Yesterday (2019)
Genre: Babies, F/F, Love, Money
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24640213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holtzmann_lover/pseuds/Holtzmann_lover
Summary: Amber Peterson was a quiet girl. She did well in school and only had a few friends, who encouraged her to go forward with her music career. But when she quickly passes her mentor, Avery Mercer, in the music world,stress quickly begins to find its way to the family of three.
Relationships: Debra Hammer/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Can't Buy Me Love [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1468823
Comments: 16
Kudos: 7





	1. 1

Debra held two coffee cups in her hands as she walked into the studio to meet a potential client. She was happy, more clients meant more money and more money meant a happy Debra. She knew all the ways to work a client into getting what she wanted and she wasn’t going to stop now. 

Amber Peterson waited patiently at the studio for Debra to arrive. She was nervous and she couldn’t help but bite her nails a little. What if Debra didn’t like her? She had only met her once for a brief moment before Debra left. Now they would be in a room alone together and she could already tell that Debra was very serious when it came to her job. Maybe her friends were wrong about her being able to pursue a singing career. 

Debra walked up to her and gave her one of the cups of coffee, “It’s best not to show up early. It makes you look overeager.”

Great, she had already messed up. Debra unlocked the studio and they both walked in. Debra took her to a little office inside. She motioned for Amber to sit across from her. 

“Sorry about being early,” Amber muttered. 

“Don’t apologize.”

“Got it,” Amber said. 

Debra leaned back in her seat and studied the younger girl. She had to have been around the age that Avery was when they met. An adult who was still learning about the world. She could work with that. She could work with anyone that helped her make money. 

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Debra said, “What do you want out of this?”

“Um to be able to express myself,” Amber said. 

Debra laughed and shook her head, “That is the wrong answer. Saying that you want to be able to express yourself or whatever you won’t get you anywhere in this business. Try again.”

“Umm I’m not sure what you want me to say,” Amber said. She felt like she was screwing this whole thing up. 

“Money, baby, money. Money will get you places in this business. Not whatever you said,” Debra said, laughing a little, “Do you know how much money I have in the bank?”

“No,” Amber said, wanting to know where this was going.

“I have over a million dollars,” Debra said. “How do you think I got that?”

Wow. Over a million dollars was a lot of money. Even the thought of having that much money overwhelmed her. Was it possible for her to have that much money as well?

Debra answered for her, “By demanding what I want. No one’s going to listen to you if you stand on the sidelines. You need to be playing that game. And with my help, you can be playing the game and winning millions.”

Debra knew what she was talking about. When Amber googled Debra the night before, it was obvious that Debra was very successful with her clients. Millions of dollars sounded promising. No more almost not being able to pay rent or for food. With millions of dollars she could be in a far better place than she was now. 

“Millions?” She asked to confirm. 

Debra nodded, “Millions.”

That was all Amber needed to hear to make her decision. 

“Sign me up.”

“Great,” Debra grinned, pulling out some contracts from a small drawer, “Just fill these out.”

Amber scanned over the contacts, scribbling her name on the line at the bottom. She had opened a door to so much potential. She could get her music out in the open now, thanks to Debra. 

Debra took the papers back, “I’ve got to go. Enjoy the coffee and I’ll be in touch,” Debra said. Amber realized this was her cue to leave as well. She stood up quickly and followed Debra out. She thought it was strange that Debra didn’t say goodbye as they parted ways. However, she shrugged it off as she drove home. Today was a successful day. 

* * *

Snowflake trotted to the door to greet Debra as she walked in the door. The TV was on and she was curious to see what was up. Snowflake, who was happy to see her, followed her to the living room. 

Avery and Bailey were both cuddling on the couch, with a movie playing. Bailey, who was three, looked like she was about to doze off and Avery herself did too. 

“Why isn’t she napping?” Debra asked, taking the sleepy girl off Avery’s hands. 

“She missed you,” Avery explained, “She refused to go to bed without you.”

“Mamama,” Bailey babbled through the fingers she had stuck in her mouth. She cuddled close into Debra’s neck and Debra rubbed her back a little. 

“All right, nap time,” Debra announced, “What are you watching?” 

Avery looked at her in shock, “Are you serious? It’s  _ The Incredibles _ , Debra. Have you never seen this movie?”

Debra thought for a minute, “No.”

“Well it’s movie night now,” Avery decided, “You cannot be in your forties and not have seen  _ The Incredibles _ .”

Debra rolled her eyes, “I’ve gotta go before this girl starts drooling on me.”

Avery agreed but stood up to give her wife a quick kiss. She missed Debra when they weren’t together. Debra kissed her back before climbing the stairs to put Bailey to bed. 

“You’re not innocent, you know,” Debra said. “You can toddle now. There’s no need for me to carry you.”

Bailey rested her lips on Debra’s cheek. It was her own way of giving her parents kisses like they did to her. 

“You little suck up,” Debra tsked, “I guess the stairs are a bit hard still.”

They reached Bailey’s room. They had recently got her a little toddler bed to replace her crib and Bailey loved it, especially since she could have a thin blanket and a small pillow. Debra gently placed the toddler down but it seemed as if she wasn’t tired anymore. She wiggled around in her bed. 

Debra sighed, “Come on, baby girl. Please sleep.”

Debra rubbed Bailey’s small cheek with her finger a little to relax her as she watched her. She couldn’t believe that almost four years had gone by. Her little girl had gotten so big already. Apparently Debra’s relaxing touch had calmed Bailey down because the baby had fallen asleep. Debra sighed in relief and covered her daughter up with a blanket before making sure the baby monitor was on and leaving the room. 

Avery was downstairs. She was under a blanket of her own and had restarted the movie so they could watch it together. Debra gave a soft smile as she sat on the couch. Avery instantly cuddled up to her and played the movie. 

Debra was Avery’s safe spot. With Debra around, Avery felt protected. She loved the nights they spent together as it was hard to do when they had a three year old. But they made it work, just like they always did.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery meets Amber.

Amber sat in the studio with her head down and her eyes drooping. She was exhausted and nobody could prepare her for the amount of work that needed to be done when she was in the studio. Sometimes she didn’t leave until midnight and would be expected to be back at five thirty in the morning. She constantly had to remind herself that this is what she wanted and it would all pay off when the album was released.

“What are you doing?” Debra asked through the microphone. The sound came through Amber’s headphones.

“Ummm, trying not to sleep,” Amber admitted.

“Do you need to sleep? Cuz you’re on my time but if you need to sleep then we better let you,” Debra shrugged.

“Sorry, I’ll be better,” Amber mumbled.

“Good.”

So Amber pushed herself to her limits day and night. She needed to prove herself to Debra. She  _ needed  _ Debra to know she was committed, even if it meant sacrificing sleep. To her, this album meant that her dream had come true. To Debra, this album meant money. 

One afternoon, Debra was extra rude. Amber knew she had a wife and a kid, but that was it. When it came to privacy, Debra was the most private person she had ever met. So Amber had no idea what made the woman so snappy that day. 

“This isn’t any good, get out of the booth,” Debra sighed. “I get you’re tired, but in order for us to put together an album, you need to be great and this was not great.”

“I’m trying my best,” Amber said. 

“Don’t try to be great. Be great,” Debra reminded her. “You can go home after I listen to the songs that have been recorded.”

Debra listened as another guy played the music. A couple of songs she actually seemed to enjoy but she made a face at another song. Amber braced herself for the comments to come after. 

Avery slipped in the studio with them as they were listening. She was meant to have her own recording session that night after Amber had left. She set her bag down and sat next to Debra. The song came to an end and Debra sighed. 

“Yeah, that last song was not good. It’s like when you order food off the menu and it looks good in the picture but then it comes out and it looks like a disease on a plate. Well thought of, poorly done,” Debra said sharply. “You are worthless to me if you cannot create good content. Don’t waste my time like that again.”

Amber willed herself not to cry. The words cut deep. She had tried her best but it wasn’t good enough. She wondered if there was any way that she could please Debra. 

Debra turned her attention to Avery, standing up. “I’m going to get Bailey from daycare.”

“Yeah,” Avery nodded, accepting a kiss from her. “I’ll be home in a few hours.”

Debra nodded and turned back to Amber. “Don’t call me until you’ve fixed that mess.”

Debra left the studio and Avery looked back at Amber who was trying to secretly wipe her tears away. 

“Oh, hey, don’t cry,” Avery said. “She’s just grumpy because our kid hasn’t slept in like two days and we’ll probably have to take her to the doctor or something.”

“I’ve worked so hard on this and now it’s trash,” Amber sniffled. 

“It’s not trash. Keep it for when you work on a different album,” Avery said. 

“I don’t know what to do to please her,” Amber admitted. 

“That’s your first problem,” Avery told her. “You’re not going to be able to please her so stop trying to. And besides, if you’re only doing this to please people then why do it at all?”

Amber stayed silent. She didn’t know how to respond. Avery sighed and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen before scribbling it on it. 

“My name is Avery. Here’s my number if you have any questions. I know the business can be hard and I’m pretty much an expert so if you need help, text or call me,” Avery offered and slid the paper over. 

Amber smiled and took the slip of paper. “I know who you are, but thank you.”

Avery grinned as well. “Now get out of here. Go take advantage of sleeping.”

Amber nodded and thanked her again before disappearing out the door. Avery felt for her. She knew how hard it was to transition into becoming a real musical artist. One who puts out albums and goes on tour, singing every night. It was hard work and it was even harder when your agent was exactly the warmest person on the planet. 

The amount of pressure that artists were under was insane. People expected her to be perfect and soon they would expect Amber to be the same way. And if Amber cracked under the pressure, Debra would have no guilt in letting her go early before her contract ended. 

Avery sighed and began to record her own songs. She wondered if Bailey was listening to Debra. Bailey had been neglecting sleep the past few weeks and neither Debra nor Avery knew what to do. But they both needed a break. 

But she loved being a mom. She loved the little moments of joy when Bailey was able to say a new word or if she actually peed in the toilet. She hated the moments of fear like the time when Bailey fell and was inches away from hitting her head on the corner of a small table. But those moments quickly vanished when she could scoop her daughter up and cuddle her close. 

She could tell Debra did too. Even if she wasn’t always home and showed her love in different ways. Avery accepted there would always be a bond between the two of them that she would never be able to have with Bailey because she didn’t carry her. 

She hoped Bailey knew how much they loved her. She knew that she and Debra would do anything to protect Bailey from the horrible things that could happen. And she was about to learn just how evil the world could be. 


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debra watches Bailey.

Avery sighed happily as she rolled over in bed. She finally got a day off from work. It was a rare treat for her and she always spent the days with her little family and sometimes Lily and Amanda. But today, she planned on sleeping the whole day. 

Being a mom was not an easy job at all. And even though she had a partner in crime, Debra, her energy was gone quicker than before. 

“Mommies?” A little hand knocked on the bedroom door. Avery looked beside her and realized that Debra was no longer in bed with her. 

“Mommy?” Bailey asked again, when she realized one person was missing. 

Avery sighed when she realized she had to get up. She got out of bed and picked up the toddler, resting her on her hip. “Breakfast?”

“Bweakfsss,” she tried to pronounce. She stuck her fingers in her mouth. 

“Breakfast comes first and then lunch and then dinner,” Avery told her daughter. They made their way down the stairs and Avery plopped Bailey in her high chair before dumping some Cheerios in a kid bowl. Bailey instantly used her grabby hands to grab them. 

“Try to say Cheerios and then you can have them,” Avery said. “Say Cheerios.”

“O’s,” Bailey said and demanded the food by using her grabby hands more. 

“You’re lucky that your mama isn’t here or she’d put up a fight,” Avery said and placed the Cheerios in front of the hungry toddler. 

The door whipped open and Debra walked in. Her expensive clothes and sunglasses on her face were the first thing that Avery noticed. She held two coffees in her hand and gave one to Avery. 

“Where were you?” Avery asked, taking the coffee and sipping it. 

“I had a meeting,” Debra said. 

Bailey swung around when she realized her mama was in the room and her hand knocked against her bowl, sending it flying off the high chair tray. As the Cheerios landed, Snowflake knew it was his time to shine and quickly ate the food. 

“You’re lucky we have a dog to clean that up,” Debra told Bailey but scooped her out of the chair to give her a cuddle. 

“Mamamamama-” She babbled, happy to be on her mama’s lap. 

“Shh, the adults are having a conversation,” Debra interrupted her daughter. But she started playing with the little wisps of Bailey’s hair to calm her. 

“I think I’m going to hang out with Amber,” Avery said, popping a grape in her mouth. 

“Who’s that?”

“Your client.”

“Oh.” 

Debra took a moment to think about this before speaking again. “You know she’s like your rival, right?”

“I know.” Avery pooped another grape into her mouth. 

“So what, I’m just gonna watch Bailey all day?” Debra asked. 

“I’m pretty sure child protective services wouldn’t like it if we left her home alone…so yes,” Avery answered. “But it wouldn’t be all day.”

“What am I supposed to do with her?” Debra asked. 

“Just pop in  _ The Incredibles.  _ It’s like her version of the Bible. She loves it. It’ll be fine.”

Debra sighed in defeat. Bailey began to scream when she heard about her favorite movie. 

  
  


* * *

“So we’re home alone together,” Debra said. She was making more coffee for herself while Bailey was on the kitchen counter. 

Bailey took her slobbery fingers out of her mouth and touched Debra’s cheek. 

“Hey, that stays on the inside of your mouth,” Debra said and made a face when she wiped off her wet cheek. 

“Vee!” She screamed, pointing to the TV, demanding her favorite. 

“Okay, geez. I’ll put in a movie for you,” Debra sighed and picked the small child up, carrying her to the couch in front of her tv. She sighed in relief when she saw that  _ The Incredibles  _ was already set up. She pressed play and went to leave but Bailey wouldn’t allow her to. 

“Tay,” She mumbled and even reached a hand out to her. Bailey didn’t know exactly what love was but she could feel the emotion and she knew she always wanted to be with her mama like she was now. Avery always made sure to tell Bailey how much she loved her. Debra always showed her love in different ways, like watching a movie with her. 

“Okay,” Debra sighed and sat next to her on the couch. Bailey invited herself and crawled over to sit on Debra’s lap. Debra sighed and played with Bailey’s hair more to calm her. It was a trick they both used to get her to sleep when she had too much energy. The feeling of her one of her mom’s hands running through her hair never failed to make her sleepy. 

Debra must have dozed off herself because before she knew it, the credit music was playing. 

Before Debra could realize what was happening, Bailey climbed off Debra’s lap and toddled into the kitchen, where she knew the food was. 

“Food,” Bailey said, toddling over to the fridge. The door was too high and too heavy for Bailey to use so she sadly looked at it until Debra came over. 

Debra didn’t really know what to give Bailey for lunch. She felt dumb, but didn’t want to give Bailey the wrong thing. The thought of Bailey choking scared the shit out of Debra. 

Eventually she decided on a small bowl of macaroni noodles along with vegetables that were cut up. She put Bailey on the counter again, watching her carefully while pouring herself a glass of wine and setting it by Bailey. She knew she didn’t have to worry about Bailey drinking it because it was too heavy for her to pick up. 

Snowflake realized that food was involved and trotted over to the kitchen to stand under Bailey so he could get any food that was dropped. 

Bailey had a habit of babbling when she was excited and that’s exactly what she did. Debra didn’t want to admit it, but she was a little bit annoyed and wanted to cook in peace so she gave Bailey a book to distract her. 

The book distracted her for a minute but as Debra dished the noodles out into a bowl for Bailey, she got excited again. Bailey all but threw the book next to her, knocking over the glass of wine Debra had poured for herself. The glass shattered on the ground and the red wine spilled all over Snowflake’s white fur. Snowflake responded by getting hyped up, running around the kitchen and their living room, eventually laid on his back on the white carpet to get the substance off his back. 

“Shit!” Debra swore. She nearly ran off to stop Snowflake but she realized her daughter was still sitting on the counter so she moved her to the ground before running to stop the dog. 

“Snowflake! Stop it!” Debra snapped. She was too distracted to realize that Bailey felt a bit overwhelmed by the noise. 

“Mama,” Bailey gurgled. 

“Hold on,” Debra said, a little harshly. She managed to get Snowflake up and she let him outside after clipping him to a leash so he wouldn’t run off. She looked at the carpet and groaned. She would need to call one of her cleaners tomorrow to get rid of the stain on the carpet and take care of Snowflake. 

Bailey let out a shriek and began to cry loudly. Debra nearly snapped at her but when she looked over, Bailey was staring at her finger while crying and blood was dripping from it. 

“Idiot,” She hissed at herself, realizing Bailey had cut herself on a piece of shattered glass. She ran over and looked at the injured finger before deciding that she would be fine after getting a bandaid. 

Debra picked up the crying girl and carried her to her and Avery’s bathroom before setting her down and finding a band aid to stop the bleeding. She couldn’t believe she had done that. No good mom would set their kid down near a pile of broken glass. She knew she wasn’t cut out to be a mom and here she was a mom making dumb mistakes. 

“No messing with it,” Debra told the girl as she wrapped her tiny finger up. Bailey’s crying had stopped and she was only sniffling. She nodded her response. 

“Hey! I’m home!” Avery’s voice came from the kitchen. 

“Upstairs!” Debra called back. 

“Mommy!” Bailey screamed. 

She instantly heard Avery coming up the stairs and into the bathroom. “Hey what happened in the kitchen? Is everything okay?”

“Owie,” Bailey said, sadly. She examined her wrapped finger. 

“From the glass? Debra!” Avery scolded. 

“Hey, I fixed it!” Debra defended. “Also your dog is now red.”

“Yeah, I know. He looks like you tried to tie-dye him,” Avery joked. She really wasn’t mad about the situation like Debra was. Both the carpet and Snowflake could get cleaned. 

Debra rolled her eyes. 

“I’m gonna try to go clean that,” Avery said. 

“You know we have personal cleaners, right?” Debra asked. 

“It’s fine. It’s probably my fault anyways,” Avery said, waving a hand and disappearing from the bathroom. 

Debra put the bandaids back where they came from. She felt a tap on her leg. She looked down to see Bailey’s wide eyes looking back at her. 

“Up!” She said, reaching her arms up to get lifted. Debra sighed but obeyed and picked her up, walking to the living room and sitting on the couch, watching Avery spray the carpet with a cleaning bottle. Bailey’s hands went to play with Debra’s earrings. 

Debra grabbed her hands gently and Bailey started to play with Debra’s cheeks instead.

“Lub,” Bailey said and gave Debra a slobbery kiss on the cheek. 

Debra instantly looked at her. “What?”

“Lub,” Bailey repeated again. 

“Oh my God,” Avery gasped. “I think she just said she loves you!”

Debra felt emotional. It was Bailey’s first time saying she loved anyone and it was  _ her.  _ Of course, she loved Bailey with all of her heart, but she knew she didn’t always show it. And now her daughter was saying that she loved her. She wished Bailey could talk more but Bailey was now distracted by the necklace Debra was wearing. 

“Do you think that’s really-” 

“Yeah! She even gave you a kiss,” Avery smiled and came over to sit by her family. She hoped that Bailey would tell her that she loved her soon too, but she was so happy that Bailey told Debra. Maybe this was the confidence Debra needed. 

“Shit!” Bailey screamed, gaining the attention of her parents. Avery sighed, maybe she should be the one to stay home next time. 


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amber quickly passes Avery in the music world.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Debra stared at the computer screen, laughing in shock at the numbers on the screen. The numbers continued to raise and she smiled. Higher numbers meant more money. 

Today was the release day of Amber’s first single and the number of streams and purchases were off the chain. Debra had never even experienced this in her career. It was exciting and new and the fact that it was all because of her made it much better. 

She packed her belongings up and shut the lights off before locking up the studio and heading home. 

Debra thought about Avery’s success as she drove home. Avery had won Grammys and had been on world tours. But she had slowed down since Bailey was born and while Debra understood that to a point because she was a mom too, this was Avery’s career and she couldn’t let her give up something that she was so talented at. Besides, Debra wanted all the money she could get and even though Amber was her new lucky charm, Avery was a close second. 

She pulled up to their house and walked inside, taking in the scene in front of her. Avery was sitting at the kitchen table with Bailey in her high chair. Avery fed Bailey tiny scoops of mashed potatoes. 

“Hey! Look who’s home!” Avery said and pointed to Debra and Bailey looked behind her, making happy sounds when she saw Debra. 

Debra softly smiled and set down her stuff before coming over to her family. She kissed Avery on the lips and kissed Bailey’s little forehead. Avery tried to feed her daughter again but Bailey was too excited now that Debra was home. 

“You can feed her the rest of her dinner,” Avery told Debra and handed her the spoon.

Debra nodded and did the task at hand while Avery prepared dinner for the two of them. 

The small family finished their meals in peace before Debra decided they needed to talk business. Bailey was distracted by petting Snowflake. They had to remind her that Snowflake enjoyed soft pets instead of hard ones but once she got the hang of giving love to Snowflake, they were able to have a conversation. 

“Let’s talk business,” Debra said. She was standing up while Avery was sitting down. 

“Okay,” Avery nodded. 

“Amber’s first single came out today,” Debra announced. “Guess how many copies she sold?” Debra walked back and forth in front of Avery. 

“Five thousand?” Avery guessed. 

“Higher.”

“Seven thousand?”

“Three million copies.”

Avery was shocked. She had never sold that many copies of a single in one day. She felt jealousy spike within her. Would Debra drop her from her contract because she wasn’t selling enough of her music?

“Mommy,” Bailey interrupted. Avery looked to her side and found Bailey beside her with her hands in the air. “Up.”

Avery picked up Bailey and bounced her on her lap a little. 

“That’s almost unheard of,” Debra continued. She paced the area more. “You need to step up your game.”

“How?” Avery asked. 

“Sponsors, drop your own single, I don’t know. Avery, you’ve donated over a million dollars to charity for cancer and have been on more than one world tour. Amber has dropped one single and she’s doing better than you are at the moment.”

Avery sighed in defeat. 

“So in the business world, who is more valuable?” Debra asked. 

“Amber,” Avery responded without hesitating. 

“That’s right. So what are you going to do to make me money?” Debra asked.

“Mama!” Bailey yelled and pointed at Debra, wanting her attention. Debra responded by grabbing her keys and passing them over to Bailey. Bailey snatched them out of Debra’s hand and began to jingle them. Debra raised an eyebrow at Avery, waiting for a response.

“I could walk people’s dogs,” Avery shrugged. 

Debra pinched her nose and sighed. “Seven years later and you still don’t find this serious.”

“I do find it serious. I just don’t see why I have to be on top,” Avery said. “Maybe we should think about settling down. We have a kid now, our own family.”

“Do you realize what you just said?” Debra asked and then turned towards Bailey. “Bailey! Not in the mouth!” She snapped. 

Bailey snatched them out of her mouth and stared at Debra in shock. Avery was afraid that she would start crying but instead, she began to giggle. 

Debra turned back to Avery, sighing. “You just signed a two year contract not even a month ago. I’m sorry, but I’m not dropping you from the contract.”

Avery sighed as well. “Fine.”

* * *

“You could do more merchandise,” Lily suggested. 

“That’s not a bad idea,” Avery admitted.

They were sitting on a park bench watching Bailey play with her park friend, Daisy, on the grass. Daisy’s grandma brought her to the park a lot and she was quick to make friends with Bailey. They were currently eating a snack together. Daisy had goldfish while Bailey had pretzels.

“Or you could just drop another single. You’re working on another album, aren’t you?” Lily asked.

“I’ll probably do that too,” Avery sighed. 

Just as Avery looked over at Bailey, Bailey snatched some of the goldfish that were Daisy’s. Daisy let out a shriek, clearly upset at the situation. Lily tried to hide her giggles but Avery was surprised that Bailey had done something like that.

“Bailey Lynn Hammer!” She gasped. “We do not take!”

Bailey was about to put some of the snack in her mouth but Avery reached over and gently grabbed her hand.

“No!” Avery said, sternly. “Give that back.”

Bailey sadly looked at the goldfish before dropping them in front of Daisy.

“What do we say?” Avery asked. “We say sorry.”

“Soy,” Bailey said.

“Good girl,” Avery nodded and turned to Daisy’s grandma. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what came over her.”

Daisy’s grandma waved a hand. “It’s fine, dear. They’re very grabby at that age.”

Avery sighed in relief and picked Bailey up so she wouldn't cause any more trouble. Lily held out her hands and Avery plopped Bailey in Lily’s lap. Bailey began to babble Lily’s name. 

Avery was at a loss. She didn’t know what to do. After the two years were up, would she continue the way she was now? Or would she drop out of the industry and become somewhat normal again? She wanted Bailey to have a semi-normal life but she also wanted to please Debra. All she needed to do was to figure out how she could have both.


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debra and Avery talk about Avery's future.

Debra slammed the door to her Buick as she got in and Avery got in the passenger side. They had just gotten out of a meeting for merchandise for Avery to sell and the results were not good, according to Debra. She wasn’t going to wait for money to roll in when they could be rolling in it already.

“Why are you mad? It’s not like-” Avery began but Debra was quick to cut her off.

“Let’s reset the expectations,” Debra said, focusing on the road. “If you don’t come out with merchandise, a single, a song, whatever the hell will make money in fifteen days, I’m dropping you from the label.”

Avery’s head snapped to look at her. “Debra, what?”

They pulled up to a stop light and Debra looked over at Avery. “You heard me.”

Debra wasn’t really going to drop her from the label, but a little manipulation to light a fire under Avery never hurt. 

“That’s not fair, Debra,” Avery said. 

“It is fair. You haven’t been making any money. You’re lucky I didn’t drop you before,” Debra said and hit the gas as the light turned green. 

“How am I supposed to come out with something in fifteen days?” Avery sighed. 

“You’ve produced your own music before,” Debra said, pulling up to the daycare that took care of Bailey. “I can’t baby you through this whole thing. Have something out by the end of the month.”

Avery went to respond but Debra had already gotten out of the car to go grab Bailey. She didn’t know how she was going to pull something off like this. Debra had always said that someone who was better would come along, and now that it was finally happening she didn’t know what to do. 

A few minutes later, Bailey all but ran to the car, impatiently waiting for Debra to open the door for her before climbing in. 

“Mommy!” Bailey said happily, reaching for a hug. Bailey was the most affectionate but sassy baby ever, proving that she was the daughter of both of them. 

Avery leaned over to the backseat to hug her daughter. “Hey, Sunshine. How was your day?”

Bailey resounded by excitedly shoving a coloring page in Avery’s face. It was a picture of puppies and Bailey had gone all out, coloring in the picture with all the dogs sporting a different color. 

“This is beautiful!” Avery said and kissed her little forehead. “It deserves a place on the fridge.”

Bailey beamed at the kind words and Debra strapped her in her carseat. The car ride home was silent. Avery hated it but she couldn’t help but be mad at Debra. Even after having a kid of her own, Debra didn’t understand that Bailey needed to come first, not the other way around. But Debra wouldn’t change her mind. And Avery knew that.

* * *

Avery let out a groan. She was sitting in the studio on a wooden stool with her head in her hands. She couldn’t figure out how to end the single she was going to release, and even worse, she had fourteen days to complete it and record it before releasing it to the public.

“Are you okay?” Amber asked shyly. She had just finished her own session at the studio. 

“I just need to finish this song and get it released before the end of the month and I-” Avery stopped short when she noticed she was getting worked up at the wrong person. “Sorry.”

“Wanna hang out? Maybe get your mind off it?” Amber asked shyly.

Avery thought about it for a second and then grinned. “You know what? Fuck it, let’s go hang out. But Debra’s gonna be out of town for the night, so we have to pick up the little monster from daycare first.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Amber agreed and they walked out of the studio together.

  
  


* * *

“Hey, Sunshine,” Avery grinned at her daughter, who came up to her with yet another coloring page. This time, it was farm animals. The pig was purple, the cow was blue, and the horse was pink. When Bailey handed the page over, Avery promised that she would put it on the fridge next to the one from the day before.

It was then that Bailey noticed Amber standing next to Avery. Bailey loved to meet new people and only looked mildly confused at the new person. Amber gave a little wave to the tiny human.

“Bailey, this is Amber. Can you try to say Amber?”

“Am,” Bailey responded and then lifted her arms up. “Up!”

“Baby, Amber doesn’t need to hold you,” Avery explained.

“Up!” Bailey said again, demanding to be lifted into Amber’s arms.

“That’s fine,” Amber said and gently grabbed Bailey. Bailey’s hands immediately went to Amber’s hair and pulled a little too roughly and Amber made a face, gently grabbing the toddler’s fingers and moving them away. Bailey went to touch Amber’s cheek which was allowed.

“Sorry,” Avery apologized. “She’s obsessed with touching people’s cheeks for some reason.”

Amber waved her off, saying it was no big deal before they walked out of the daycare, going to get some coffee and heading to the park. Avery really liked Amber. She felt like maybe when Lily wasn’t around, Amber could be someone who she could hang out with. Of course Lily would always be her best friend but Lily had been caught up in her own life with Amanda.

They sat on the bench and watched Bailey rip grass out of the ground before throwing it into the air, giggling when it fell in front of her, and starting the process over again.

“She’s really cute,” Amber said.

“Thank you,” Avery beamed.

“Makes me almost wish I wanted kids,” Amber confessed.

Avery turned to look at her. “You don’t want kids?”

Amber laughed and shook her head. “No, my mom died when I was fourteen. I wouldn’t want my own kid to go through that if something happened to me.”

“Your mom died?” Avery let the curiosity get the best of her.

“Yeah, fourteenth birthday,” Amber nodded.

“Huh, you should talk to Debra about that. Her mom died when she was fifteen,” Avery said and gently took the grass out of Bailey’s hand as she was about to eat it.

“Talk to Debra?” Amber asked to make sure she heard Avery correctly.

“Maybe not,” Avery gave a half grin. Bailey stood up, putting a hand on Avery’s knee to help her balance.

“I don’t know how you put up with her,” Amber blurted out. “Debra. She doesn’t seem to care about anyone but herself.”

Avery sighed. If she were being honest, this wasn’t the first time she had heard something like that and she was sure it wouldn't be the last either. She had trained herself to say an answer that was truthful but wouldn't hurt Debra or make her mad.

“Is Debra the nicest person in the world? No, she’s not, but she gets the job done and at the end of the day, that’s what you need. I’ve told you before, stop worrying about her and focus on your music, which seems to be doing good, thanks to her,” Avery said. She realized her words were probably a little too intolerant so she softened her voice. “I’ll tell her to stop being so harsh.”

“Thanks,” Amber said, letting out a sigh of relief.”

Bailey let out a yawn and Avery scooped her up. “I think it’s nap time for this little one.”

“Nap,” Bailey confirmed, pulling at the shoes she was wearing.

“Let's not take your shoes off yet, kiddo,” Avery said and stood up with her in her arms, the three of them walking to the car. It had been a long day for Avery and all she wanted to do was nap as well, but she was an icon to the world and that meant sacrificing things like sleep when she only had fourteen days left to save her career.


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debra finds out something interesting about her mother.

“I’m impressed,” Debra said, looking at the computer screen where Avery’s song was playing. “You’ve managed to come out with a single in fifteen days.”

Avery scoffed. “Well yeah, I didn’t want to get let go from the contract.”   
  


Debra rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t have let you go.”

“Good to know,” Avery spat out. But then calmed down some. “It’s okay?”

Debra nodded. “It’s good.”

Avery sighed out in relief. Even though Debra wasn’t the nicest of people, Avery felt like she couldn’t work alone without her. She felt the need to be validated and supported by her, even when doing something that meant the world to her, being able to perform.

“You need to have this mindset always,” Debra started. “Getting in the studio and getting things done. No more being lazy when it comes to your career.”

Avery nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now go wake up Bailey. If we’re going to go to the beach, then I’d like it to be soon,” Debra instructed and turned back to her computer to get more work done.

Avery sighed and nodded. She was upset that Debra had lied to her but on the same token, she knew she couldn’t get mad at Debra for everything. Some things she just had to let slide. She walked upstairs and found Bailey laying in her bed, cuddling her stuffed elephant to her chest while sucking her thumb.

She stroked her daughter’s cheek with her finger to softly wake her up. Bailey made a couple of sleepy noises before opening her eyes. 

“Mommy,” She whimpered out. 

“Hey, sleepy girl. You wanna go to the beach?” Avery asked, still rubbing Bailey’s cheek. 

“Beach,” Bailey repeated. She had never been to the beach before but Avery thought it was a good day to start. Her baby couldn’t live in LA and not go to the beach.

“Let’s get ready then, yeah?” Avery said and stood up to help Bailey pick out her little swimsuit. 

When everyone was dressed and ready, they drove to the beach. Debra drove, Avery sat in the passenger seat, and Bailey used the car ride to pull at her toes. When they got to the crowded beach, Debra grabbed the bag out of the car and Avery grabbed Bailey, resting her on her hip. It was better that way because they didn't want Bailey to run off and they knew Bailey would want to be held anyways.

They set up a little spot away from the crowd as it was always possible that pictures would be taken and they didn't want pictures of Bailey being leaked if they could avoid it. Although, they both secretly knew that going to the beach was the worst place for privacy and that Bailey’s picture would probably make it to the front of a magazine.

Avery gently set Bailey on the sand, which sent a screech out of her mouth, tears immediately springing from her eyes. Avery frowned and picked her up again, which stopped the screeching. When she set her back down again, the screeching started up again.

Debra sighed. “It’s the hot sand. Let’s get the blanket out and put her on that.”

They grabbed the blanket and unfolded it, laying it across the sand before plopping their baby on it. As expected, Bailey seemed to like the blanket a lot more. When Avery was satisfied, she sat on the blanket too and looked expectantly at Debra.

“What?” Debra said.

“Are you going to sit down?” Avery asked.

Debra huffed and obliged. Bailey immediately crawled into Debra’s lap.

“Remember the last time we went to a beach?” Avery asked.

“On your first tour, with Lily,” Debra nodded. Bailey glared at the sand like it was the devil. 

“Has it really been six years?” Avery wondered out loud.

“I guess it has,” Debra said. Bailey suddenly became braver and dared to touch the evil sand. She grabbed it and let it slip between her tiny fingers.

“Can you say sand?” Avery asked her daughter.

“Sand,” Bailey repeated and hit the sand with her small hand.

“Should we try to take her to the water?” Debra asked.

Avery shrugged. “The most that will happen is her screaming because she doesn't like it. Let’s try it.”

The sand was too hot for Bailey to stand on comfortably so Debra scooped her up and held her as they traveled to the water together. Debra slowly lowered Bailey into the ocean. As soon as the salt water hit Bailey’s toes, she began to giggle.

Debra gently set her down all the way so she was standing and her little feet were in the water. She leaned down to splash the water and Debra was quick to move away so she wouldn't get splashed. Avery reminded her that she was wearing a swimsuit for a reason.

Avery stepped closer to Debra and leaned her head on Debra’s shoulder, watching her daughter. “She looks just like you.”

“She looks like my mom,” Debra admitted. “Her facial features, her outgoing attitude…”

Avery sighed. She wished she had gotten the chance to meet Debra’s mom. By the way Debra described her, Debra’s mom seemed like a great person. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was missing out on something.

“Fuck, I miss her,” Debra sighed out.

“I know you do. Maybe Bailey was a gift from your mom?” Avery asked. She was surprised that Debra had said that. Of course she knew it was true, but Debra confessing anything was rare.

“You know I don’t believe in that stuff,” Debra scoffed.

Avery shrugged and looked back at the little girl who was now trying to eat the sand.

“Oh! Hey, sunshine, let’s not eat the sand,” Avery said, running over to Bailey to stop her.

Debra’s phone began ringing and she sighed, walking the short distance to the blanket to retrieve her phone. She grunted at the caller and set her phone back down before beginning to walk back down to her family. When the ringing started again, she knew she had to take the call.

“Debra Hammer,” She spoke into the phone.

“Debra, how are you?” Her Aunt Sue’s voice came through the phone.

“Have you made an appointment to call? I don’t remember seeing you on the schedule for today,” Debra said, trying to get out of the call.

“Oh, you know I will do no such thing,” Sue said. “Anyways, I was at the storage unit and-”

“Why are you calling me about a storage unit?” Debra asked.

“It was your mother’s, dear,” Her aunt clarified.

Debra stopped to digest the information. She didn't know her mom had a storage unit. She thought back to the day where she had thrown all of her mom’s stuff away. If she had known that her mom was keeping stuff, she would have gotten rid of all that stuff too.

“I didn't know she had that,” Debra said. Her voice was softer now.

“I didn’t realize that. She was saving that stuff for a house of your own,” Sue said. Her voice was just as soft. “Why don’t you have my key? I rarely go there anyways.”

Debra nodded. “Okay.”

* * *

Debra pulled up into her Aunt Sue’s driveway. Her aunt had money, just like she did, but Debra was proud to say that she had more. They got out from the car with Avery helping Bailey out and they knocked on the door. Debra had forgotten how similar her mom and her aunt looked. It had taken her a moment to regain her voice.

“Come in,” Her aunt said.

“Coming in,” Bailey announced and nearly shoved past Debra’s aunt.

“Oh hello,” Sue said. She had only seen the pictures of Bailey that Avery decided to post online. “Hi, Avery. It’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Avery grinned. The one time she had met Debra’s aunt was a few years ago when they had accidentally run into her on the streets. Debra wasn’t one to introduce Avery to her family. Avery saw Bailey trying to climb up on the kitchen table and turned to scold her. “Bailey! Stop that!” 

“It’s okay,” Sue said, waving a hand. “Let me grab that key for you.”

Avery nodded and used the opportunity to grab Bailey so she couldn’t get into any more trouble. Debra looked around her aunt’s house. She was impressed. She didn’t realize that her aunt had been this well off. Still, she made notes about the house that could be improved upon.

“That couch is nice. Although I’m guessing you got yours for like a hundred dollars when I got mine for over a thousand?” Debra grimaced. Avery lightly whacked her.

“Sorry about that,” Avery mumbled under her breath.

Sue seemed to ignore the comment. “Here’s the key.”

Debra snatched the key out of Sue’s hand without a thank you and walked towards the door to leave.

“Thank you,” Avery sighed out.

“You’re welcome. You know she looks a lot like Eleanor,” Sue commented.

“Debra said the same thing,” Avery told her. “Do you think she would have liked me?” 

“I know so,” Sue said. “Things would have been different if Eleanor was still alive.”

Avery looked confused. “What-”

“Avery let’s go!” Debra yelled, coming back into the kitchen, snapping her fingers.

“It was good seeing you again,” Avery said, making sure Bailey was following her.

“You too, dear. Come and visit anytime,” Sue said and they got in the car, driving towards the storage unit.

* * *

Debra turned the key in the hole, allowing her access to whatever was inside the small space. She took a moment to prepare herself for yanking the door up. She had gotten rid of her mom’s stuff twenty seven years ago. None of it should have been there. And yet there was a whole room of stuff that her mom had owned. That she had touched.

Debra took a deep breath in and yanked the door up. It had been like a punch to her stomach, taking away her breath for a moment. Everything in front of her was something that her mom had. Something that was meant for her. Something they could share.

“Holy shit,” Avery mumbled. “This is a lot.”

Bailey ran ahead to play with the things in sight. Debra didn’t know what to do for a second as she took in the scene in front of her. Boxes upon boxes filled the room to the ceiling. Bailey had quickly run back to them with something in her hand. 

“Bailey, don’t touch without Mama saying yes,” Avery said. Bailey responded by opening up her tiny fist to reveal a necklace in her palm. Debra looked over and a small jewelry box had been sitting on top of a stack of other boxes. Bailey had clearly helped herself to the boxes.

Debra squatted and gently grabbed the necklace from Bailey before turning her around. She unclasped the jewelry and placed it around Bailey’s neck before clasping it again. Bailey turned around again to face her mothers.

Debra, who was still squatting, grinned. “You look beautiful.”

Bailey beamed. “Weally?”

“The most beautiful,” Debra confirmed and both Bailey and Avery grinned. Debra stood back up and went to the jewelry box herself, fishing through it. She dug out a necklace of her own to keep and passed it to Avery. “Put this in the safe.” 

Avery nodded and put the necklace in her pocket. She wished she knew Debra’s true feelings about this surprise, but she knew she would have to settle with the cover up. 

Debra looked around the unit. “Now get rid of it all,” Debra said before grabbing a painting. “Except for this.”

“Debra-” Avery tried to say but Debra cut her off.

“Get rid of this. I have no use for it,” Debra said. Her eyes had become dark, almost like the interaction with Bailey seconds before hadn’t even happened.

“Debra, seriously-” Avery tried again, but it was no use.

“Watch this,” Debra said, grabbing the key from her pocket and throwing it in the air, disappearing into the grass ahead of her.

“Smart. Now someone can take all of this,” Avery said.

“They’re not taking this stuff because we’re getting rid of it,” Debra said for a third time. She was getting worked up and it was Avery’s job to calm her down. 

“Debra, calm down!” Avery snapped back. “I understand you’re getting overwhelmed-”

“Don’t you understand?” Debra said. Avery noticed the tears in her eyes. “I am completely done with that chapter in my life. It happened twenty seven years ago. I don’t care about any of this and I don’t care about  _ her _ .”

“That’s not true,” Avery said.

“It is true, Avery. Now help me throw this all away,” Debra said, wiping her tears away. Avery sighed and for the next three hours, she helped her wife throw away her mom’s stuff that was never to be seen again.


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery gets suspicious about Amber.

Avery swung open the door. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Amber said back.

Avery let her in the house. Debra had been at the studio with Bailey and Avery had the house to herself. She had wanted to get to know Amber a little more. Lily had been busy with wedding planning and Avery had been doing the best she could to help since she was the maid of honor. 

Amber stepped in. “Nice house.”

Avery smirked. “Thanks.”

Amber followed her into the kitchen, looking at the paintings hanging on the walls. She recognized the signature on the paintings. She never realized that Debra had painted. She didn’t want to admit it, but the paintings were good.

Amber followed her into the kitchen and Snowflake was quick to make an introduction by sniffing her and licking her hand.

“Your cloud is softly attacking me,” Amber informed Avery. 

Avery looked up from the two mugs that she was going to pour coffee into. “Oh, that’s Snowflake. Never harmful. Only lovable.”

Amber pet Snowflake’s soft coat of fur. Snowflake was happy for the attention, giving her even more kisses in return. Avery sat the mugs down on the table and gestured for Amber to sit across from her. Amber did as she was told.

“How’s being famous?” Avery asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“A lot of pressure,” Amber admitted, looking down at her coffee.

“How are the performances? Are those getting easier?” Avery wondered. She thought back to when she was a new celebrity and didn’t quite have a mentor like Amber did. The only thing she had was Debra.

“Good, although I don’t know if they’ll ever get less nerve wracking,” Amber said, taking a drink from her own mug.

“Surprisingly they do,” Avery said. 

“All the fans are so nice though,” Amber sighed. “Sometimes they bring me gifts which isn’t necessary at all.”

“You’ll learn that the true fans will always shock you with how giving they are,” Avery said. “On another note, how’s Debra?”

Amber swallowed. “Less harsh but still tough.”

Avery looked at her. “You know that’s because she sees potential in you, right? If she saw anything less, she wouldn’t even look at you twice.”

Amber nodded slowly. “I guess.”

Avery nodded. “It’s true. Now, are you ready to go shopping?”

“Ready,” Amber confirmed.

Avery grinned and took Amber’s mug to the sink along with her own before quickly washing them out. Debra had always told her that she didn’t need to do things like that because that’s why they had cleaners come to the house but Avery liked to make their job easier, even with the heavy paycheck they earned.

Avery eyed the necklace that Debra had plucked out of her mom’s jewelry box that was now thrown away. 

“Let me put this in the safe real quick,” She muttered and grabbed the necklace, walking to their office.

Debra’s safe was stashed under the desk in the office. Even after knowing Debra for a few years, Debra was hesitant to let Avery know where the key was and what the passcode was. She put in the seven digit code which allowed her to slip the key inside, which ultimately granted her access inside the safe. There were four stacks of bills inside. Avery had always wondered what the stacks of money were for since she had never seen Debra touch them.

She threw the necklace inside and locked the safe before turning around and nearly jumping a foot in the air. Amber was standing behind her.

_ Daniel shoved her to the ground for refusing to get in the van. Her wrist hurt from being grabbed and pain shot up within it as she used her hands to break the fall from being shoved. _

“Avery?” Amber asked, lightly waving a hand in front of her. 

“You scared me,” Avery said. Her heart was beating a million times a minute and she almost couldn’t catch her breath for a minute.

“I’m sorry,” Amber said. “I didn’t mean to. Are you ready to go shopping?”

Avery shoved the thoughts to the back of her mind. Her therapist had taught her exercises to help with her breathing when she felt a panic attack about to occur but Amber was moving so fast that she couldn’t keep up.

“Ready,” Avery smiled.

* * *

“I feel like I haven't seen you in forever,” Lily admitted as they stood in line for coffee together that evening.

“You’ve been so busy with wedding plans,” Avery jokingly accused her. She had been helping out a lot but she had her own plans too.

“Not all of us can just get married in court,” Lily teased, shoving her a little.

Avery laughed a little as she lost her balance for a second before quickly regaining it. She loved Lily. Lily was her number one. Even if they were to go months without talking, they would always be quick to reconnect because they were best friends. And best friends never let anything get in the way of that.

“Well, I’m also not working on an album,” Lily continued. 

Avery laughed a little more, looking at the front of the line to see when their turn would be, watching the people in front of her.

“Hey sweetie, why don’t you help your mom out with the coffee?” An older man asked. 

“I’m on it,” A younger woman’s voice said.

Avery’s head snapped to the girl when she heard the voice. Amber was taking coffee from an older woman that looked just like her. Amber’s mom was supposed to be dead and here she was, standing right in front of her, struggling to carry coffee.

Amber turned around and the two of them locked eyes with each other, sharing an uneasy look as Amber passed her.

Lily was staring at her. “Didn’t you say-”

“Yeah, I did,” Avery said. “Can we leave? I don’t feel comfortable.”

“Let’s go,” Lily nodded and they walked out of the coffee shop, forgetting about the coffee.

  
  


* * *

“What do you know about Amber?” Avery asked Debra that night. Avery was laying on the couch and her legs and feet were draped over Debra’s legs as Debra typed away on her laptop. Bailey was looking at a picture book in the middle of the floor in the room.

“Not much. I was thinking about putting her on a diet, what do you think?” Debra asked. Her eyes never left the computer screen.

“Don’t do that,” Avery said. “Anyways, do you know about her family or her life before she signed a contract with you?”

Debra slowly turned her head to look at Avery. “She is a product to me.”

“Quack,” Bailey said, looking at a duck.

“Quack,” Avery said back before turning back to Debra. “No but seriously, she hasn’t mentioned any family or anything?”

“I am serious, Avery. She’s a product to me,” Debra said. “Besides, I have too many clients right now to care about if her dad lost his job or if her mom is becoming a grandma. Your album is coming out in two months.”

“Never mind,” Avery sighed.

“Oink,” Bailey said and began to giggle at the pig in front of her.

“Why?” Debra asked. Her curiosity was getting the best of her.

“I got a weird vibe from her today,” Avery said.

“Damn it, Avery. What’d I tell you? Don’t make friends with your enemies,” Debra scolded.

“Damn it,” Bailey repeated.

“Damn it,” Avery said, glaring at Debra for teaching her daughter swear words.

Bailey put in more of her own input. “Roar!”

Avery sighed. She didn’t know what had happened today, but she still felt uneasy and sick to her stomach. However, she pushed it aside because she didn’t have time for the anxiety that kept peeking into her brain. Being a major celebrity meant that there was no time for stopping and Debra made sure she knew that.


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Avery's birthday!

Debra dropped her planner onto the counter. She was confused. In front of her, Bailey and Avery were...baking. It was a foreign thing to do in the Hammer household as they usually just all relied on takeout with their busy lives. Avery was quick to move the planner so it wouldn’t get covered in flour.

“What are we doing?” Debra asked.

“Baking a cake,” Avery said.

“Birfday,” Bailey said, which made Avery blush.

Truth be told, Debra was awful at remembering birthdays. Even though they had been married for six years, Debra often forgot Avery’s birthday. Avery had quickly learned that Debra wasn’t going to remember and at the end of the day, it was best to just let it slide.

“God damn it, it’s your birthday isn’t it?” Debra asked.

“Tomorrow. August 3rd,” Avery nodded. She was shy now that her daughter had put her in the spotlight. She would have been fine eating a cake and leaving it at that.

“I’m sorry, honey. I’m not going to forget tomorrow. I promise,” Debra insisted.

“It’s fine if you do,” Avery shrugged.

Debra saw Bailey going to touch her out of the corner of her eye and stepped away, taking off her blazer. She neatly hung the blazer up quickly and went back to squeeze her daughter’s sides gently. 

“Don’t touch the $200 blazer, baby,” She said. 

“Birfday,” Bailey said again and reached for Debra to pick her up. Debra obeyed and picks the small child up, earning herself some cheek pats.

“Should we do something special for her birthday?” Debra asked.

“Yeah!” Bailey exclaimed, wiggling happily in Debra’s arms. 

Avery blushed. “You could help me finish this cake.”

Bailey wiggled more and Debra took that as her cue to set her down and walk over to Avery, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her in for a kiss on the cheek.

“Why don’t you just buy a cake? Since when have we ever baked?” Debra asked, observing the mixer that was currently mixing the batter. “Since when did we own this?”

“You don’t even know what’s in your own house,” Avery said, returning the kiss cheek with a kiss on the lips.

Debra kissed her back. “Seriously, this year is on me. Let me handle it.”

Avery nodded. It had sounded like a good idea. Debra had always unintentionally missed so many birthdays. Maybe this time she could finally make up for it.

  
  


* * *

Debra sighed loudly as she checked her Apple Watch for the fifth time in five minutes. Bailey laid on the studio floor, coloring on old sheet music. Amber was very late to the studio for her recording session and she was on Debra’s last nerves. Amber was usually pretty great about being on time but this was unacceptable to Debra.

Debra sighed. Why should she wait on Amber if Amber wasn’t going to respect her and her rules? She stood up and grabbed her bag, turning to the toddler who was humming. She snapped her fingers, making Bailey look up at her mother. 

“Come on, we’re leaving,” Debra said.

“Don’t leave!” Amber said, rushing into the studio.

Debra crossed her arms. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“I need to talk to you,” Amber said.

Debra sat down in her chair again. Bailey went back to her important work. She motioned for Amber to continue. Amber looked nervous and she clasped her sweaty palms together.

“I don’t think I want to do this anymore.”

“Sorry, I must be having some hearing trouble because it sounded like you said that you don’t want to do this anymore,” Debra said, squinting her eyes.

“That is what I said,” Amber said.

“Do you realize who you are?” Debra scoffed. “You are Amber Peterson. The next new pop star. The next big thing.”

“I know. It’s just...the more I do this, the more I realize this is the opposite of what I want. Being in the public eye every minute of every day is way different than what my life used to be like,” Amber explained.

“You realize you signed a two year contract, right?” Debra asked. “It’s been six months.”

“I’ll do the legal necessities to get out. I’ll give the ten thousand dollars as well,” Amber said.

It wasn’t every day that someone decided to drop their contract with Debra. She was harsh and unforgiving but Debra was good at what she did, making clients often overlook the harsh words Debra said and the manipulation that came with it. To end a contract with Debra early meant a hefty fine as well.

Bailey stood up and walked over to Amber and Amber went to touch her but Debra swooped in and grabbed Bailey, picking her up.

“Don’t touch her!” Debra snapped, holding Bailey close and grabbing her bag. “I’ll just drop you from the agency. Send the check to my house in the mail. I don’t want to look at you anymore.”

Amber sighed as Debra left. It could have gone worse. It could have gone way worse.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Bailey babbled in the back of the car, kicking her little feet. Debra was going to regret nap time soon as she doubted the energetic toddler would want to sleep.

“Hey, Sunshine?” Debra asked, looking in the mirror. “Could you please be quiet for a minute. I have a call I need to make.”

Bailey nodded, understanding the words. She went to examine her coloring pages instead. Debra quickly called Avery with the bluetooth in her car.

“Hello?” Avery’s voice sounded through the car.

Debra quickly remembered that it was Avery’s birthday. “Hey, baby. Happy birthday.”

Avery couldn’t help the surprise that leaked through her voice. “Oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Debra said. “Hey, did you know that Amber was going to drop out?”

“Drop out?” Avery asked, confusion filling her voice.

“Drop out,” Debra said again, turning on her turn signal. “Like she’s leaving the contract.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Avery said, remembering how much she seemed to enjoy the job the last time they talked.

“I’m just dropping her,” Debra explained. “There was no announced tour. The only thing she’s released are singles.”

“Shit, I’m sorry, Debra,” Avery sighed.

Bailey began to babble in the background.

“Hi, Bailey!” She said, which was probably the wrong thing to do as Bailey started looking around the car for her mom. Debra chuckled a little at the confused baby.

“But you seriously didn’t know?” Debra frowned, turning onto a different street.

“No,” Avery said. “I would have told you.”

“Damn it,” Debra said. “Okay, I’ll be home soon.” And hung up.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Why don’t you carry the flowers, baby?” Debra said, handing Bailey the bouquet of flowers that she had bought Avery. Debra decided to carry the cake to prevent any accidents from happening. She plopped a card in Bailey’s arms as well and opened the door to lead them inside.

Avery was shoving chips into her mouth while watching some reality tv show. She looked back at the door, grinning when she saw that her family was safe home. 

Bailey ran to her mom, all but throwing the flowers and card into her lap before nearly crawling on top of them. 

“Woah kiddo, slow down,” Avery chuckled, quickly moving the flowers and card away so they didn’t get squished. 

“Happy birfday!” Bailey cheered. 

“Thank you!” Avery grinned. She thought that maybe her daughter was more excited about her birthday than she was. 

Debra smiled softly, watching her small family on the couch for a minute before coming over to them, placing the cake on the coffee table, and sitting next to her wife. 

“Happy birthday,” She grinned. 

Avery’s grin grew bigger. “Thank you.”

“Do you want to open your card?” Debra asked and Bailey answered for Avery, shoving the card in her face. 

“Card!” Bailey screeched. 

“Okay, okay!” Avery lightly laughed. 

Avery carefully tore open the yellow envelope, pulling out a  _ happy birthday!  _ card. She read the front of the card and opened it when she was finished. 

Bailey’s name was very messily scribbled across the left side of the card in blue crayon. Some of the letters were written backwards and that made Avery love it even more because it was her daughter’s handwriting and she loved her daughter more than anything. 

On the right side, Debra had written her happy birthday and scrawled her name in elegant cursive in black. 

“I love it,” Avery said. “And the flowers and cake. It was all very sweet. I appreciate it.”

“Can I take you out for dinner tomorrow?” Debra asked. 

“You may,” Avery grinned and took her wife into a kiss and Debra happily kissed back. 

Bailey had decided to help herself to the cake on the table, whining frustratedly when the plastic on top of the cake wouldn't budge. 

“I guess it’s time for cake,” Avery said and for the rest of the night, happy smiles were shared by everyone. 


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debra and Avery go on a date.

“It’s weird, you know? Like she completely left the contract. Avery knows how important that is to me and she’s just like best friends with her now. I wonder how Lily feels about this,” Debra sighed. “What do you think? Am I overreacting?”

Bailey looked up from the TV where some kid show was playing. Avery had made it a point to Debra that Bailey shouldn’t be watching anything that they would watch. She was only three. 

“Dog,” Bailey told Debra, pointing to the TV. 

“You’re right, Amber is a dog,” Debra said. “You’re pretty nice about that. I would’ve been calling her a different word for dog.”

Bailey screamed as her favorite character on the show appeared. Debra got out her makeup from her bag, getting ready for her date. Avery had decided to get ready at Amber’s house since Amber wanted to take her out for lunch for her birthday weekend. 

“Are you listening?” Debra asked Bailey. “I’m venting to you.”

Bailey only looked at her in confusion. 

“As I was saying,” Debra continued. “Is it bad that I don’t want her to be friends with her?”

Bailey stayed silent. 

“You’re right. I can’t control her,” Debra sighed, leaning back in her chair. But she knew one thing for sure, she wasn’t going to let Amber take her wife away. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Hi, gorgeous,” Debra said, coming up to Avery, who was waiting for her at the front of the restaurant. Debra had on a black lace blazer with black pants and heels to match. Her hair was half up as well, making Avery nearly drop her jaw. 

Avery blushed in response. She was wearing a short sleeveless black silk dress with heels as well. Together, they were an unstoppable couple when it came to fashion. 

“Follow me,” Debra said, and gently took Avery’s hand to guide her through the crowd of the restaurant. She went up to the hostess. “Debra Hammer.”

“Follow me,” The hostess said and grabbed a couple of menus before leading them to their seat. 

Avery had thought they were just going to sit in a booth or maybe a table, but instead they were led down a hallway and up the stairs that led to a rooftop. It was over the top and beyond extra but the fact that Debra had done this for Avery made her light up brighter than the lights that were illuminating the rooftop.

“Your waiter will be with you soon,” The hostess said and disappeared back down the stairs.

“They do this for special occasions. I just had to pay a fee,” Debra said and pulled Avery’s chair back. Avery took in the rooftop. There was only one table, which was the table they were sitting at, some jazz music playing in the background, and string lights dangling across the sky. A lit candle was in the center of the table.

Debra sat across from her. She looked unsure of herself but Avery was quick to sooth her nerves by squeezing her hand gently with her own. Debra gave a soft smile.

“Should we look at the menu?” Debra asked to move on from the awkwardness. 

“Yeah,” Avery said. They held hands across the table as they took a look at the menu. When the waiter came, they ordered champagne. It was nice to have a date night without Bailey in the mix. As much as they loved her, they needed nights to themselves too.

When the waiter came back to take their food order, Debra ordered steak and Avery ordered lobster. Avery bit her lip as Debra talked, soaking up her words like a sponge.

“I’m proud of you,” Debra sighed out. “It’s not everyday people come out with seven albums.”

“The Beatles came out with more than that,” Avery said.

Debra sighed, “You know I’ve never heard of them before. I’ve even looked them up.”

“How do you not know?” Avery jokingly sassed and Debra shrugged. 

“Maybe it’s because I know talent,” She said. 

Avery dropped her mouth open. “Take that back!”

Debra shook her head, amused at the conversation and Avery couldn’t help but laugh a little too. 

  
  


* * *

“I know I’m the cool aunt, Bailey, but you have to go to bed,” Lily said, sighing as the younger girl refused to leave the tv. She had asked multiple times and there had been no success.

“Hey, why don’t we cuddle on the couch together?” Amanda suggested.

Bailey was one of the most cuddliest babies to exist and Amanda knew just the way to calm the baby down, thankful for her own experience with her own nieces.

She placed a hand on Lily’s back. “Why don’t you get some warm milk? It works like a charm for my nieces. I’ll get us all some blankets.”

Bailey immediately went to crawl onto the couch with Amanda; then Amanda covered them with a blanket, leaving some room for Lily when she came back. When Lily returned, she gave the plastic cup of warm milk to Bailey and slipped under the covers next to her fiance. Snowflake laid on the floor next to them.

“What show is this?” Lily asked.

“Shhh,” huffed out Bailey.

Amanda giggled. She already sounded just like Debra did when she was upset and she was only three. Amanda rubbed Bailey’s back to calm her down some and told Lily the name of the show they were watching.

“You’re so good with kids,” Lily whispered so Bailey wouldn’t get upset again. 

“You know I want kids,” Amanda sighed.

“I do too. I’m just not sure when,” Lily said. It had been a hard conversation for them.

“I know, I’m not forcing you to do anything,” Amanda said.

“Shush!” Bailey said and they knew to shut up.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“That was really good,” Avery said, wiping her face with a napkin after setting her fork and knife down.

“It was,” Debra agreed, placing her hands in her lap.

“Do you have anything else planned?” Avery asked.

“Not really unless you want to dance to the music,” Debra joked.

“Let’s do it,” Avery said.

“Avery, I was-”

“I know, but let’s still do it,” Avery said. She stood up and walked over to Debra to help her up. Debra gave her a look but took her hand, allowing Avery to pull her up. Avery guided her hands to her waist while she put her own hands around Debra’s neck. They swayed together to the soft jazz music on the rooftop. Debra laughed a little and Avery looked up at her.

“What’s so funny?” She asked.

“This is crazy,” Debra laughed a little more, looking at her.

“I know it might be a little awkward but we’re on a rooftop. Not many people can see,” Avery said. They continued to dance more.

“Not that,” Debra smiled and gestured between the two of them. “I feel completely changed in ways. First you ask me out and we start dating, and then we get married, and have a kid. And now you’re asking me to dance on a rooftop,” She chuckles a little more.

“I guess I just have an affect on people,” Avery grinned.

“I would say so,” Debra nodded and they both fell into a comfortable silence this time, enjoying each other’s company before they have to go back to reality.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Lily startled awake as Avery tapped her shoulder. She looked around, realizing that she was in Avery’s house on her couch, babysitting her kiddo while they went on a date for Avery’s birthday. Amanda looked like she was just waking up too and Bailey was conked out in Amanda’s arms.

“Hey, thanks for babysitting,” Avery whispered. “You can go home.”

Avery slowly grabbed her daughter so she wouldn't accidentally wake her up. They had realized pretty quickly in Bailey’s life that she was an over energetic kiddo that needed little sleep to survive.

“Is fifty okay for the night?” Debra asked, pulling out some money from her wallet.

Avery scoffed. “They’re our friends, Debra. Not employees.”

Debra quickly put her wallet away, shrugging as Avery left the room to put Bailey in her own bed.

“We’d better get going,” Amanda said. “We both just passed out on your couch.”

“Well thanks for watching Bailey,” Debra said, showing them out the door before going to find Avery, who had successfully moved Bailey without waking her up.

Avery was removing the makeup from her face and getting ready to change from her dress into pajamas. She looked exhausted but happy and Debra liked that she was the reason why Avery looked so happy.

Debra came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her, whispering in her ear. “We haven't had sex in a while.”

Avery grinned, leaning into her wife. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“You bet I am,” Debra said and Avery turned around quickly, removing the space between them as they made their way to the bed. 


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery comes home from work.

Bailey ran to the car excitedly, nearly tripping over her own feet as she stopped at the door. Avery had to run to keep up with her as well and unlocked the car as her daughter repeatedly yanked on the handle.

“We are in no rush,” Avery said, helping her daughter into her carseat.

“Snack!” Bailey insisted, kicking her feet.

“Okay, okay. We’ll go home,” Avery said and clicked Bailey’s seatbelt in place.

It had been a long day in the studio and Avery was tired. She had finished the album and it was waiting to be released but the song writing never stopped. When she got into a groove, nothing stopped her. Who knew how much time went by or what was happening in the world when she was lost in writing.

Debra had a day full of meetings with different clients and agents. Avery knew she liked to schedule those on the same day, so she wasn’t exactly sure on when her wife would be home. On days like these, it was nice to be able to spend some time alone with her daughter.

“Why don’t we go home and order some pizza or something?” Avery asked, buckling her own seatbelt and starting the car to go home after a long day.

“Pizza!” Bailey shouted out with glee.

Avery smiled a little and turned on the radio for them to listen to on the way home. When they got home, Avery sighed in frustration. The door was unlocked. Debra always had a habit of not locking the door on the way to work. 

They hung up their coats and stuck their shoes on the shoe rack. Bailey, too worried about food, ran to the kitchen to raid the snacks. But as Avery walked past their office, something caught her eye, making her do a double take. Her mouth dropped open at the sight in front of her.

The safe. The safe was hanging wide open. When Avery stepped closer, her heart dropped at the sight. More than half the money was gone and Avery didn’t think it was Debra who took it. Bailey, unaware of the situation, came and tugged on her mom’s shirt to get her attention.

“Food,” She whines softly.

“Hey, how about we wait for your Mama to come home and we can all go get pizza together,” Avery said, not really listening to her words.

Bailey huffed and plopped herself on the ground. Avery sighed and picked her daughter up, resting her on her hip. Avery pulled out her phone, dialing Debra’s number. When it went to voicemail, she called again. And she kept calling until Debra answered.  _ God, please let her be wrong about this. _

“Avery, how many times do I need to tell you? Don-

“Debra?” She tried to get her attention.

“-call me while I’m in a meeting,” Debra finished.

“Um, did you open the safe this morning?” Avery asked. Her body was warm with anxiety and she was on the verge of tears while almost shaking.

“No, I didn’t open the safe,” Debra snapped.

“Debra…” Avery began.

It didn’t take long for Debra to clue in. “Avery, don’t tell me what I think you’re about to tell me.”

Avery couldn’t help but let the tears fall. She hated that this was happening and she hated that she had to be the one to tell Debra. Bailey patted her tears some.

“I’m so sorry,” Avery choked out. 

The line went silent for a minute and Avery was afraid that Debra had hung up for a minute. She sighed in relief when Debra began to talk again.

“Where’s Bailey?” Debra asked.

“She’s with me,” Avery said.

“Are you sure cuz-”

“Debra, I’m holding her,” Avery said, bouncing the younger girl some. She could sense the uneasy tension in the room. When Debra hung up, she sat on the couch with Bailey in her lap. Bailey began to ramble about something but Avery could only think about what was going to happen when Debra got home.

“It’s going to be okay,” Avery sniffled out to Bailey, even though she knew she was talking to herself. “Everything is going to be fine. We’re okay. Everything’s okay.”

Bailey touched her wet cheeks more.

It wasn’t long at all until Debra quickly came in the house and knelt down on the ground to inspect the safe. Avery sat on the couch, watching the seemingly calm woman take in the events of what had happened.

“The lock has definitely been tampered with,” She mumbled out. Bailey began to get squirmy so Avery let her go from the couch.

“How did this happen?” Debra said. “Was anybody in the house, did anyone see you put in the code? I don’t understand. This is the most high security safe there is.”

_ Avery threw this necklace inside and locked the safe before turning around and nearly jumping a foot in the air. Amber was standing behind her. _

_ “Avery?” Amber asked, lightly waving a hand in front of her. _

_ “You scared me,” Avery said. _

“It was Amber,” She breathed out.

Debra, still kneeling, sighed and took out the remaining money left in the safe, putting it in front of her and beginning to count it. Avery watched as the older women put the money into piles, mouthing the numbers. When she was done, she counted the money again. And again. And again.

“She took thirty thousand,” Debra said.

Avery watched her silently. She didn’t know how Debra was going to respond, but she seemed calm. Maybe her calmness was frightening. It was the opposite of what she should have been.

An unexpected sob ripped through Debra’s body as she looked at Avery. “How could you let this happen?” 

Avery slowly got up and walked to Debra carefully, in case Debra decided to lash out. “I’m so sorry.”

Bailey, noticing her Mama’s tears, burst into tears herself, which caused Avery to begin crying again as well. They were a mess. Debra’s love had been taken away and she had no idea what to do besides cry. She had been lucky to never experience it before, but now she had been robbed, her money snatched out from underneath her.

“Do you think we’re safe?” Avery sniffled. “Do you think she’s going to come back?”

Debra shook her head. “She got what she wanted. She’s not going to come back.”

Avery’s phone began to ring and she was going to ignore it but when it rang again, she checked the caller ID.  _ Lily. _

She answered it quickly. “Lily, I don’t have time to talk.”

“Avery, this is super important,” Lily said.

“More important than the fact that someone broke into my house?” Avery snapped.

“Wait, what?” Lily paused.

“You heard me,” Avery said.

“This might be equally as bad,” Lily said nervously.

“Tell me,” Avery said, not ready to take on what Lily was about to say.

“Your album was leaked.”


	11. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The emotions Avery is holding in come out.

Avery sat on a wooden stool in the studio alone. She was devastated. Her head was bowed as she tried no to cry. However, the tears escaped anyway and she didn’t have the energy to wipe them away.

Her album had been leaked. She had been working on the album for over a year now and it seemed like all the hard work and effort she had put into it had been thrown out the window. She had been lucky enough to never experience this with her other six albums but it was the worst feeling now that it was happening.

Debra walked in the studio, leaning against the desk in the room, looking at her.

“Why are you crying?” She asked. Her arms were crossed.

“My album was leaked. I worked so hard on this. You know that,” Avery explained, trying to wipe her tears away. Sometimes she felt childish next to Debra.

“I understand,” Debra nodded, her voice softening some. “I’m giving you three seconds to pull yourself together. And then we need to stop crying. One, two, three.”

Avery sniffled and wiped her tears again, taking a deep breath. “What do we do?”

“We have no choice but to release it early,” Debra said. 

Avery nodded. It seemed like everything was going wrong. Their house had been broken into and her album had been leaked. It seemed like the world just wasn’t on her side.

Tears start rising to the surface of Avery’s eyes again. “I didn’t want this to happen.” 

“Nobody wanted this to happen, Avery,” Debra snapped. “But it did. And now we deal with it.”

Debra knew Avery was upset. Some part of her wanted to comfort her, but most of her knew that the best way to deal with stuff is head on. Nobody comforted her when her mom died. She dealt with it herself and Avery needed to too. That was the only way things got done. Not by sitting alone in a studio. Not by crying. 

She watched as Avery tried to stop crying. And she knew she had to do something other than standing there watching. 

“This happens to artists all the time, Avery. This isn’t anything new,” Debra said.

“It all feels worthless now,” Avery said, standing up and grabbing her guitar. 

Debra’s face hardened. “You’re able to do something incredible, Avery. Don’t throw this away. Now come on. Let’s go get Bailey.”

Avery followed Debra out of the studio. Debra was right about one thing. She had an incredible talent. She couldn’t throw this away, even in the hardest times. 

  
  


* * *

Once Bailey was picked up, the couple decided to stop at a coffee shop for some fuel. While Debra didn't mind that Bailey had a little coffee, Avery said it probably wasn’t the best for her as she was a baby and already very hyper.

As they stood in line, Bailey bounced around the place, causing Debra to pick her up so she wouldn’t disturb the other customers. Debra looked around the place uneasily. She was biting her lip as her eyes darted everywhere around the building. Avery watched her, not sure if she should step in.

It was rare that Debra was anything but confident and in these situations, she never knew whether to jump in or leave Debra be. She was an unpredictable woman and the last thing Avery wanted was to get snapped at, especially in public. It was an embarrassing moment. When Debra showed no signs of her anxiety calming, she decided she should intervene.

“Hey, are you okay?” Avery asked quietly.

Debra looked at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you’re giving off very anxious vibes,” Avery said.

“I’m just looking for  _ her _ ,” Debra said.

Avery placed a comforting hand on the small of Debra’s back. Her muscles were tense as usual and Avery soothes the spot by pushing lightly on it. She watched as Debra held Bailey close to her chest. Bailey responded to the hug by burying her face in Debra’s neck.

“She’s in jail,” Avery said “She’s not going to get near us.”

“I don’t care about me,” Debra said. “I care about Bailey. She’s three. She doesn’t know anything.”

“I think you have to give your daughter more credit,” Avery said. “But she has us. She’s not alone.  _ You’re  _ not alone.”

Debra slipped her sunglasses on to disguise the insecurity she held as they stepped up in line to order. They ordered coffee and a hot chocolate for Bailey before sitting down in a corner.

“I feel so stupid. I thought we were friends,” Avery said, sitting down. Bailey wiggled in the booth next to her. Debra sat on the other side. 

“Yeah, well life has a way to take what you have and throw it away,” Debra said, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Throw away,” Bailey repeated.

“That’s right,” Debra nodded. “We never take too much of what we have because it always goes wrong in the end anyways.”

“A very healthy way of looking at things,” Avery commented.

“My way works,” Debra said.

“Does it?” Avery challenged.

“Yes,” Debra said. 

Debra scrunched up a napkin in her hand before tossing on the table. Bailey immediately grabbed it and began to tear it to shreds. Avery was thankful that she was doing that rather than running around the cafe. Debra sucked in a breath. Her lower lip wobbled and it looked like she was having an argument with herself.

“She took my mom’s necklace,” Debra said. She was biting her lip again, like she was trying not to cry.

Avery had forgotten all about Debra’s necklace. She was so worried about the money and Debra’s reaction that she had completely forgotten that there was more than just money in the safe.

“Debra-”

“I threw all my mom’s stuff away because I didn’t want to see it anymore and-” She threw her hands up in the air desperately. “-she took it.”

Avery’s heart dropped to her stomach. The guilt she felt was enormous. If she had taken two more seconds to realize that she wasn't alone, then it never would have happened. It was her fault. She knew it. She just didn’t know how to make something so wrong be okay.

“You took your mom’s painting,” Avery mumbled out. She knew it was a lame comment.

“That wasn’t even her best one. You should have seen it. It was something wonderful,” Debra said.

“You’re a great painter too,” Avery said. 

“Not like my mom though,” Debra said. “She was a talent that was wasted.”

Avery went to respond but Bailey had accidentally knocked over her hot chocolate, spilling everywhere. Debra immediately shot out of her seat. Avery gasped at the liquid splashing on her arm, standing up as well. Debra snatched some napkins from the dispenser and tried to soak up the mess.

“Soy,” Bailey said, sensing her parents’ urgency.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Avery said. “Mistakes happen.”

Debra snorted as they soaked up most of the spill. She grabbed Bailey out of the booth. “I think it’s time to go home.”

Bailey wiggled in Debra’s arms. 

“You’ve lost your hot chocolate privileges,” Debra said and they walked out of the cafe.

  
  


* * *

Avery sighed into her wine glass. It was halfway full and she already knew she was going to need another one after. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. Debra was filling her brain with information about dates that she needed to clear on her calendar.

Debra sat down next to her when she was finished ranting about the upcoming dates.

“We’ll get through this. We always do,” She muttered, taking a sip from her own wine glass.

Avery gave her a look. She didn’t believe her wife. It seemed like they always had something going wrong. There was never a time where stress wasn’t about to kill her.

“I know a way we can win this,” Debra said.

Win? This wasn’t a game. This was real life. Thirty thousand dollars had been stolen and her whole album, all fifteen songs, had been leaked.

“What?” Avery asked.

“She made a fatal error when she leaked your music,” Debra continued.

“Okay?” Avery asked, not quite catching on.

“You mess with the tiger, you get the bear,” Debra said and stood up, exiting the room.


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery goes behind Debra's back.

“Are you ready for this?” Lily asked, getting in Avery’s Jeep.

Avery put the car in drive and drove off.

“You’re lying to Debra. Don’t you think maybe we should tell her what we’re doing?” Lily asked. “Cheeto?”

Avery plucked the Cheeto out of her best friend’s hand. “What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.”

Lily looked at her friend suspiciously but let it slide. She wasn’t about to argue with her friend when they didn’t see each other as much anymore. She silently held out the bag of Cheetos and Avery took some more.

Avery was very nervous. She had never visited someone in jail before but there was a first time for everything. Like getting your house broken into or getting your album leaked. 

All she wanted to know was why Amber had done what she did. What her motives were and what she had gained from the money and releasing Avery’s album early. Debra would never approve of her going to visit, but some things had to be done anyways, with or without permission.

As they pulled up to the building, Avery gulped nervously and turned to Lily. “I’m going to need more Cheetos for this.”

Lily fished out another bag but Avery was too nervous to ask where that bag had come from. After helping herself to some of the snacks from the new bag, she folded the top over to keep the Cheetos fresh and put them on the floor. She put on her sunglasses to make her look intimidating and Lily did the same before they walked in with false confidence.

Once they had signed in and went through security, they were led to a room where other visitors were waiting to visit with their locked up loved ones. They chose a table off to the side of the room. Avery didn’t want people to see that she was visiting an inmate and it was more private overall. Avery and Lily sat next to each other and Lily comfortingly placed a hand on Aver’s shoulder.

Avery jumped when Amber plopped down across the table from them. The orange jumpsuit was too baggy for her and Avery had definitely seen times where she had been more attractive.

“I’m surprised to see you, Avery Mercer,” Amber said. She nodded in Lily’s direction as a greeting.

Avery was surprised that she was there too, but she kept her mouth shut.

“I just want to know why?” Avery felt dumb as the words came out of her mouth. Amber was confident and while Avery was normally confident too, all she could do was stutter out words.

Amber leaned back in the plastic seat casually. “You know your wife is actually really easy to Google? You should try it if you haven’t. There’s a lot of information.”

“She is right,” Lily said softly. “Debra is very easy to Google.”

Avery shook her head. “That doesn’t tell me why you broke into my house and stole money.” She threw her hands up in frustration. “And Debra’s necklace.”

“Yeah, that didn’t sell for as much as I thought it would,” Amber said.

“That was Debra’s mom’s,” Lily spoke up. “It was priceless.”

“Actually it’s only two hundred and fifty dollars,” Amber said.

“But why?” Avery snapped. “Stop avoiding the question.”

“I was in debt,” Amber said.

“Like your credit card?” Lily asked, to keep up.

“That’s what happens when you do favors with criminals,” Amber said in a slow voice, like they were stupid.

“Explain,” Avery demanded.

“I was arrested for auto theft a year ago,” Amber explained. “I ended up crashing the car and went to jail. They pressed charges after I was bailed out.”

Something clicked in Avery’s head. “So you tried to right a wrong with another wrong? Idiot.”

“You know surprisingly for how much money Debra has, she doesn’t keep it very secure,” Amber said. “It was easy once I made that Google search. Everything fell into place. You unlocking that safe was the cherry on top.”

“So what about your mom dying? Was that just a way to get closer?” Avery asked, shaking her head. She couldn’t believe that she was in the middle of this conversation. Maybe it was best if she hadn’t come to visit.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Amber asked, a smirk filling her face. “And just so we’re clear, Debra knew I had a criminal background when she hired me.”

Amber got out of her chair and walked away before Avery or Lily could respond.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Amanda anxiously knocked on the Hammers’ front door, waiting for Debra to answer. A tote bag full of alcohol rested on her shoulder. She was nervous. In the six years that Amanda had known Debra, they had never been alone with each other. Maybe because Amanda made it a point to not be with Debra alone or because Debra barely noticed her unless she talked. But now Debra invited her over alone. Debra whipped the door open and Snowflake came to the door as well to sniff her.

“Come in,” Debra said and shut the door behind her. Snowflake wanted to be part of the group but Debra chucked his toy away, creating a distraction for the fluffy animal.

Debra motioned for her to set down her bag on the kitchen island. “You’re going to teach me how to drink.”

“You say that like I’m an alcoholic,” Amanda said.

Debra cocked her head. “Are you?”

“I’m a bartender,” Amanda said.

“Then bottoms up,” Debra said.

Amanda grabbed out some gin and vodka and they got to work on mixing the drinks. Amanda was still intimidated, watching Debra carefully as she helped make the drinks. She was a quick learner and only stopped when one of the cleaners came in the house for their shift.

“Okay so for this one, you add the ice first and then pour the gin in,” Amanda instructed, showing her in her own glass. They weren’t sober anymore and it was clear that Debra wanted to keep going and Amanda wasn’t about to tell her no.

The door burst open and Bailey ran in, not even saying hello. She had an important task to do, which was to play with her stuffed animals. Lily and Avery followed in and Lily immediately began to start making a drink of her own. Avery followed her.

“Hey, did you know that Amber was a criminal?” Avery asked, taking a sip of the martini she made. Lily and Amanda went silent. It wasn’t the first time they had been in the middle of an argument and they both silently prayed this wouldn’t be one of those times.

“It might have come up,” Debra admitted, setting her empty glass on the counter.

“And you didn’t think to tell me that?” Avery asked.

Amanda poured herself another drink.

“That’s violating her privacy,” Debra said.

Avery felt her blood boiling. She couldn’t believe her wife right now. She had been blamed for something that was completely out of her control. Debra was private but this was a whole new level. It was something that Avery didn’t understand.

“But you blamed me,” Avery said. Her voice was soft and she cracked on the last word.

Debra didn’t answer and poured herself another drink. 

“Debra!” Avery said. She felt like crying.

“I told you several times I didn’t like her,” Debra said.

“So then why did you agree to sign her on?” Avery asked. 

Debra stayed quiet but Avery didn’t need to hear the words. 

“You’re unbelievable,” Avery scoffed.

Debra shrugged. Bailey watched her moms, cuddling her bear to her chest. She could read the uncomfortable room. Lily sipped her own drink quietly. Amanda picked at her cuticles. 

“She made more money than you,” Debra said. “And did you visit her? How could you do something so stupid?”

Avery ignored her comment and went back to the argument. “Was it worth as much as you thought it would be?”

Debra gave her a look and she shut up. Both Lily and Amanda watched silently. Bailey stroked her bear’s fur to calm herself from the tension.

“It doesn’t matter,” Avery sighed. “The worst happened so why is there any reason to still be mad?”

Amanda and Lily looked at each other. Debra sipped from her glass. 

“I didn't even get to ask why she leaked my album,” Avery said sadly.

“Maybe it was a distraction to take your mind off the fact that she broke in,” Amanda thought out loud.

“Well she’s a fucking idiot,” Debra said.

“Watch your language,” Avery scolded. They all looked over at Bailey. She was curled up into a ball, fast asleep from her long day of playing.

“See. it’s fine,” Debra said, waving a hand.

“I think we’re going to leave,” Lily said and turned to Amanda. “I’m driving.”

“Probably for the best,” Amanda agreed and grabbed her bag before looking at the alcohol. “Um, y’all can keep that stuff.”

  
  


“We’ll need it,” Debra said. “All right, now get out.”

Lily just laughed, she could barely take Debra seriously. Amanda nodded and grabbed Lily’s hand, taking her hand and leading her to the door. Avery stuck her hands in her pockets and followed them to the door.

“I’m sorry it didn't go how you wanted it to,” Lily said.

“It’s fine,” Avery shrugged timidly.

“You wanna come over for the night? You can bring Bailey,” Amanda added in.

“I can’t leave Debra,” Avery said. “She needs me.”

How could she leave the one thing that brought her joy most of the time?


	13. 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Debra and Avery's nights go wrong.

“Time for bed, Bailey,” Avery said. The little girl had just finished watching  _ The Incredibles  _ for the second time that day and she was looking exhausted from the hard task.

“Again!” She points at the TV.

“Sorry, kiddo,” Avery disagreed. “Time for bed. You look like you’re gonna pass out anyways.”

Bailey began to whine and her chin wobbled as tears threatened to escape her eyes.

“Don’t cry,” Debra said. She was working on her laptop on the couch.

Bailey nodded and wiped her eyes with her tiny fists. Avery turned the TV off and pulled the toddler onto her hip. Even though Bailey had stopped her crying, she was still fussing about not being able to watch her favorite movie.

“I’ll take her to bed,” Avery said. She knew that Debra often got frustrated with Bailey if she tended to whine or cry when Debra didn’t see fit. “Do you wanna say goodnight?”

Debra agreed and Avery walked over to Debra, leaning Bailey down so she could talk to her.

“Goodnight,” Debra said but her eyes never left her computer screen.

“That wasn’t much of a goodnight,” Avery said.

Debra sighed but looked at Bailey. “Goodnight.”

“Lub,” Bailey said and reached for Debra.

“I love you too,” Debra said and kissed Bailey’s small hand. Debra didn’t show affection at all by any means but she had a special place in her heart for Bailey. When Bailey wanted kisses, she would get them.

Avery held her close as they went up the stairs to start her nightly routine. Her mind wandered back to a conversation she had with Debra earlier in the evening. She was trying so hard to make things right and was giving more than what she had to give to fix what had been broken. She would do anything for Debra and her family. 

Avery struggled with the toddler to get her pajamas on and they combed her hair and brushed her teeth before Avery grabbed a book from the book shelf and began to read it to her. Avery’s suspicions were correct. It wasn’t long before Bailey fell asleep.

Avery tucked her in a little more and kissed her head. “Goodnight, Sunshine.”

Avery snuck out of the room and quietly closed the door, silently hoping that Bailey wouldn't regain consciousness. She tiptoed down the stairs and poured herself a glass of wine before flopping onto the other couch in the room with Debra.

“I’m so fucking stressed,” She mumbled out, taking a sip from her glass.

“Maybe if we weren’t robbed then that wouldn't be the case,” Debra said.

It took a minute for Avery to fully understand what Debra had said and the unsaid words that came along with it.

“What did you just say?” Avery asked.

“I said what I said,” Debra shrugged.

“Why would you even say something like that?” Avery asked.

“It’s the truth,” Debra said.

“I already blame myself enough. I feel horrible that this happened. Just drop it, Debra,” Avery snapped, standing up.

“Okay, I’ll just drop $30,000,” Debra shrugged. She said it in a casual way, like it didn’t matter. 

“That’s not what I meant, Debra,” Avery sighed.

The tension was rising in the room and Avery was getting nervous that this wouldn't end well. Debra was still trying to get work done and Avery was trying to have an adult conversation. The conversation wasn’t going well for anyone.

“That’s a lot of money down the drain,” Debra said. She put her computer aside and helped herself to a drink from Avery’s wine glass before standing up and crossing her arms. The simple action made Avery look powerless next to Debra.

“You know we’re going to get it back so stop stressing over it,” Avery said. “It was your idea anyways. We’re too powerful to not win this.”

“Why do I need to do that in the first place though?” Debra challenged.

Avery was silent. She couldn’t think of a response to say besides sorry. But Debra wasn’t one to accept apologies. She felt stupid next to Debra. Debra stood with her arms crossed still. She was waiting for an answer.

“There’s your answer,” Debra said. “ _ You  _ were the one who opened the fucking safe.”

“You were the one who let a criminal into our lives!” Avery snapped back, yelling this time.

“I didn’t let her into the house! That was all on you!” Debra shouted back.

“At least I’m not so money obsessed that I have to hire a fucking criminal!” Avery yelled.

“She made me more money than you do!” Debra snapped. “You’re not as good anymore! You and I both know it.”

“How much more do you want from me?” Avery asked. Tears were streaming down her face now and she would do anything to get out of the fight.

Debra, however, looked like she could keep going. There wasn’t a single tear in her eyes. She didn’t look sad or upset at all. She looked like she knew what was going to come next and was preparing herself for the next comeback. It was almost like she didn’t want the fight to end until she won. 

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Avery continued.

“Then why do you keep signing the fucking contracts?” Debra snapped.

But they both knew the answer. The pressure that Debra put on Avery was enormous and there was never a time when Debra would allow Avery a break. Tours, meet and greets, concerts, interviews, and time in the studio was Avery’s life. Family was on the side.

“What a stupid question,” Avery commented.

“I wouldn’t have to ask stupid questions if you used your brain sometimes!” Debra said. She was back to yelling. “You’re not the same anymore! You’re different. You don’t care about your career anymore. You are worthless to the industry!”

“Mommies,” Bailey sniffled. Both of their heads snapped over to the little girl standing in the corner. Tears were pooling in her eyes. The loudness was too much for her.

Debra was the first to move and went over to pick the girl up. The tears escaped Bailey’s eyes as she buried her head in Debra’s neck. Debra tried to think of soothing things to tell her daughter.

Avery’s phone began to vibrate on the couch and both of the women glanced at the caller ID.  _ Lily. _

Avery went to pick it up but Debra stopped her. “Don’t you dare tell her about what we talked about. We can’t afford to have this leaked to the public yet.”

“She’s my best friend. You’ve known her for as long as you’ve known me,” Avery argued.

Debra gave her a stern look and went back to comforting Bailey. Avery sighed and picked her phone up, answering it and walking off to another room.

“What’s up?”

“I haven't talked to you in a few days. I miss you,” Lily responded.

“Um, not much.”

“You sound off. What’s wrong?”

“Uh, it’s fine. Debra and I just got in a fight. But it’s fine.”

Lily sighed on the other end. She could hear how sad Avery sounded and she wished she could help more than she was. She had been so busy planning her wedding that she had forgotten to check up on her best friend. The guilt made its way to her quickly.

“Can I help somehow?” Lily said.

“I don’t know, I’ll call you back,” Avery promised and hung up the phone, going back to join her family.

“What are you doing awake, kiddo?” Avery asked. She feared the answer.

“Loud,” Bailey responded. Avery’s heart broke at her child’s tear stained face.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. We’re loud. We’ll be quiet,” Avery said. Bailey reached for Avery and Debra passed her over. Avery cuddled with her for a bit before telling Debra that she would put her back to bed.

When they got to her room, Avery tucked her in again. Bailey was quick to fall asleep and when she did, Avery sat in the rocking chair in her room and pulled a bigger blanket over her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and tried not to let her cries get too loud as she fell asleep in her daughter’s room. She wasn’t going to sleep in the bed with Debra. Not if she was worthless like Debra told her. For once, she truly questioned her marriage as she fell asleep.


	14. 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debra meets with Amber’s boyfriend.

Desmond, Amber’s boyfriend, held a joint to his lips as he waited in the car. He didn't care that his girlfriend was arrested but he did care about the money that was about to be lost. Bailing his girlfriend out was the last thing on his mind. The area he was sitting in was sketchy and no one wanted to go to a place like that alone.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when a knock to his window startled him, He looked at the window and when he recognized the lady, he cussed her out before opening his door and getting out. He kept the joint in his hand.

“Damn bitch, there’s no need to startle me like that,” He grumbled. 

  
Debra ignored him. “You shouldn’t be smoking that.”

But then she gestured with her fingers to pass over the joint and when he did, she put it to her lips and began to cough as the marijuana hit her lungs. It quickly fogged her brain for a minute. Desmond looked her over, amused by the situation. She was a funny lady and giving her the marijuana only proved that. She also looked out of place with her outfit and car that was next to his, which intrigued Desmond even more. 

She passed it back. “Debra Hammer.”

“Desmond,” The guy said.

Debra stuck her hands in her pockets as Desmond finished the joint. It was awkward. The silence was heavy and they were both looking at anywhere but each other. Debra had one job only and she wasn’t going to give up until that job was completed. The money in the back only proved that. But she wasn’t going to use it unless she really needed it. She needed the necklace back. She wasn’t going to leave without it. It was one of the last things of her mom she had left. She was stupid to let go of her mom’s stuff two times. She wasn’t going to let it happen again. Not after Amber stole the necklace. She fucked up too many times. The panic she felt when the necklace was stolen made her realize that her mom was still with her all this time. 

“You have something of mine,” Debra said. 

Desmond sat down on the cracked sidewalk and shook his head. “I don’t think I do.”

“My necklace, you fucking idiot.” She had zero patience for dumb people.

Desmond stood back up after hearing Debra’s tone and gave in. “Yeah I have your necklace.”

“I need it back,” Debra tried again.

Desmond smirked as he shook his head. “Sorry.”

“I’ll give you two hundred and fifty dollars for it,” Debra offered, but again, Desmond shook his head. 

“I’m not giving up the necklace,” Desmond said again.

“Why?” Debra asked. “To make up for the fact that your life is pretty much worthless? You probably got that coat from a thrift store and I’m guessing your car was no more than a thousand dollars. Maybe even less. How can you live a life like this?” Her voice wasn’t anything but judgemental and even though he was about a foot taller than she was, she held the higher ground. She made herself in charge. 

Desmond grabbed the necklace out of his coat and dangled it at a height where she couldn’t reach. 

“Very funny,” Debra sneered.

Just then, Debra’s phone in her blazer pocket went off and she grunted as she grabbed it out of her pocket. 

She put it up to her ear. “Hello?”

Bailey’s new nanny spoke on the other end. “ _ Debra? I’m late to pick up Bailey. Can you please call the daycare and tell them I’m picking her up?” _

Debra rolled her eyes. “You’re late to pick my child up?”

_ “I’m sorry. My class ran late. I couldn’t leave,”  _ She said. 

Debra laughed. “Couldn’t leave? Get Avery to pick her up. She’s at home. You’re fired.”

_ “Debra-” _

“Give the key to Avery. Actually, we don’t need someone else breaking into the house. Leave the key under the mat and don’t come back,” Debra said before she hung up the phone. She stuffed it in his pocket. 

“All right, the necklace,” Debra said. 

“Fifteen thousand for it,” Desmond said. 

“Five thousand,” Debra said back and Desmond was surprised that Debra had a rebuttal. 

“Twelve.”

“Eight.”

“Ten.”

Desmond thought about it for a second before agreeing. “Not a penny less.”

“I don’t mess around when it comes to money,” Debra said. “I’m sure you know that. Follow me.”

Desmond followed Debra to her car but when he was a foot away, she stopped him. “Stay. Don’t touch the car.”

Debra quickly grabbed out ten stacks of a thousand dollars from the car. “Give me the necklace and I’ll give you the money.”

“At the same time,” Desmond said. Debra agreed wearily. 

They both slowly handed over their items and the other snatched it out of the other’s hand. Debra quickly pocketed the necklace and neither of them bothered to say goodbye as they went about their days. 

* * *

  
“Where were you?” Avery snapped as Debra came through the door. 

Debra observed the situation. Bailey had a tear streaked face while sitting on the floor and Avery looked stressed as she sat by the toddler. 

“I had business to take care of,” Debra crossed her arms. “Why is she crying?”

“She fell outside,” Avery said. “You would know that if you were here.”

Debra pulled the necklace out of her pocket. “Sorry I was getting this back.”

Avery gasped. “Holy shit.”

“Holy sh-”

“Don’t repeat that.”

Avery went over to Debra and took the necklace, dangling it in her hand. “How did you get this?”

Debra grabbed the necklace back. “You don’t wanna know.”

“Twenty thousand?” Avery asked. 

“Half of that,” Debra said. “Bailey! Come over here!”

Debra snapped her fingers and Bailey rushed over. 

“Do you still have that necklace from grandma?” Debra asked. 

“Wost,” Bailey said sadly. 

“Okay, well don’t lose this one,” Debra said as she slid the necklace around Bailey’s neck. When the necklace was clasped, Debra picked Bailey up and carried her over to a mirror on the wall. With their faces together, they looked identical. 

Bailey studied herself in the mirror and reached out to herself, putting her small hand on her face in the mirror. Debra smiled at her. She couldn’t deny the love she had for Bailey. Bailey was growing to be smarter and smarter everyday and both Avery and Debra could already tell what an accomplished young woman she would become. 

Finally Debra set Bailey back down on the ground. “All right, now go do what three year olds do.”

Bailey ran off, leaving the adults alone. Avery stepped closer to Debra and put an arm around her waist. “I can’t believe you got that back, and gave it to Bailey.”

“She deserves every bit of her grandma she can get,” Debra said but there were tears in her eyes and Avery could tell she was glad to have it back for her as well. It had been a shitty couple of months. Avery knew that Debra finding out about her mom’s storage unit was like finding out a whole new side to her mother. 

“I’m sure Bailey loves it,” Avery said and kissed Debra’s cheek. Even in the biggest fights, family came first and no one could deny that. 

  
  



	15. 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery and Lily have a conversation.

“And on your morning news Avery Mercer is suing Amber Peterson for two hundred thousand dollars for leaking her new album. The star says she had never once had an album leaked and she can assure fans that it will never happen again after contacting her lawyers. More on the story after the break,” The radio host says. “Do you like pizza-”

“What the fuck?” Lily said, turning off the radio in her car before putting her hands back on the steering wheel. She was shocked by the news. Avery had never mentioned to her that she was suing. Maybe it was implied, but Avery was her best friend. She thought the subject would have been brought up. She was hurt to say the least and she felt further away from her best friend than ever.

“This isn’t like Avery,” She said, trying to pick up her phone. She was only half paying attention to the road and Amanda, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked nervous. 

“Please pull over if you’re going to use your phone,” Amanda said. 

Lily swerved into a parking lot. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white. Amanda didn’t know how to help. Normally, Lily kept her cool, but it seemed like she was doing the opposite. She had put up with Avery’s differences from being in the spotlight. She certainly wasn’t the same Avery from fifteen years ago. But enough was enough and she decided to put her foot down when she started learning things about her best friend from the media.

“You know who’s actually behind this, right?” Amanda said softly, trying not to anger her fiancé anymore than she already was. Lily was furiously tapping on her phone. 

“Of course I do,” Lily scoffed. She put the phone up to her ear. 

“ _ Lily, I don’t have time to talk, _ ” Avery’s voice came through the phone. “ _ I’m about to do an interview. _ ”

“Cuz you’re busy with the lawsuit?” Lily snapped. “What the hell, Avery? I find out through a radio station that you’re suing Amber for two hundred thousand dollars?”

“ _ I was going to tell you, _ ” Avery said. Her voice was soft whereas Lily’s was loud. 

“But you didn’t because you’ve made it a point to not tell me about your life anymore,” Lily rambled. “I haven’t talked to you in weeks and I’m finding out from a radio host that you’re suing? When was the last time we actually caught up with one another? It’s like I don’t even make your list of priorities anymore.”

“ _ Then let me tell you so you don’t find out through the media again, _ ” Avery said. Her voice was still soft. She sounded tired and almost defeated.

“Fine,” Lily sighed.

“ _ I’m suing- _ ”

“If we’re going to do this, be honest. We all know the real person who’s suing,” Lily said.

“ _ Fine, _ ” Avery said back, getting annoyed. “But it was my album that was leaked. Not Debra’s, not Amber’s, and not yours. It was mine.”

Lily scoffed but stayed quiet otherwise.

“ _ As I was saying, we’re suing for multiple reasons. The thirty thousand dollars that was stolen from the safe, the estimated losses from the album being leaked and for emotional distress- _ ”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh. “Emotional distress. The Avery I know never would have done that.”

“ _ Well I am. And I would like you to be behind me on this, _ ” Avery said. “ _ I need my best friend’s support. _ ”

Lily felt the anger leave her body. She was hurt and she wanted to be mad. But she was so busy with her own life. She was getting married in less than a month and she didn’t get to be mad, even if she wanted to be.

“You know what? It’s fine,” Lily said. “I don’t have time to be mad, so it’s fine. I’m getting married in two weeks and you have this whole lawsuit thing going on.”

For the first time in the conversation, Lily sounded just as defeated as Avery. Avery didn’t need to tell Lily the truth for her to be able to figure it out. It was a lost cause to be mad when she already knew the truth.

“I’m going to go,” Lily spoke up.

“ _ Okay, _ ” Avery said softly and hung up.

Avery threw the phone in her bag and looked in the mirror, begging herself not to cry. She needed to be strong at least until she got home. Then she could hide in the bathroom and let her emotions go wild. But until then, she had to be Avery Mercer. A multi-Grammy award winner. Someone who’s put out seven studio albums. A couple in one year once. She was Avery Mercer and she’d die before letting anyone see her cry in public.

“Avery?” Someone said, knocking on the door.

Avery turned around and Seth Meyers entered the room. She hoped it wasn’t obvious that she was about to cry. They talked for a while and took some pictures for social media and he was on his way to introduce the first guest on his show for the night.

  
  


* * *

“Lily’s mad at me,” Avery said after the interview. Bailey was wiggling in her arms but they were still in public and Avery didn’t want to let Bailey down, especially since they were crossing a crosswalk.

“Why?” Debra asked, looking at her through her sunglasses.

“Are you kidding me?” Avery asked, holding Bailey closer from the public. “You made me lie to her.”

“I didn’t make you lie to her. I told you not to tell her what we were doing. Why? Because I’m your agent and you’re my client,” Debra said. When they got to the end of the crosswalk and on to the sidewalk, she began to talk more. “Agents are the reason you guys exist. Without us, there’d be no entertainment industry. You would still be performing in a coffee shop, trying to make rent.”

“Hey, Avery,” A small voice said and she looked past her daughter to see a small teenager, standing next to her. “Can I have a picture?”

Avery sighed on the inside and passed Bailey to Debra. “Let’s do it.”

The fan grinned and Avery got in the selfie. When the fan was happy, she left Debra and Avery alone again. 

“Maybe the fans are the reason why Lily found out the hard way,” Avery muttered and Debra’s head snapped towards her wife, her eyes growing wide. 

Debra grabbed her hand and harshly dragged her wife to the nearest private spot, which was behind a building. She balanced her daughter on her hip as she led Avery so they could talk in private.

“Did you hear what you just said?” Debra hissed out.

“I’m sorry-”

“You do not say anything about the fans in the public eye. If someone cared enough to listen, your career would have been over,” Debra snapped. “And it very well might be with a comment like that.”

“Debra-” Avery started, but Debra wasn’t listening.

“You need to wake up, Avery.” Debra snapped her fingers in front of the younger woman. “Either way, this lawsuit is changing the way the world sees you so I suggest you watch what you say when you’re in public. This lawsuit is going to come to an end. It is on me to fix your image if someone were to release what you said just now.”

When Avery couldn’t think of a response, Debra pushed past her, still carrying Bailey. Lily and Debra were both right. She had changed since her house was broken into and she didn’t know how this fight would end.


	16. 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery's nerves set in for the lawsuit.

“Stop biting your nails,” Debra snapped.

Avery yanked her finger out of her mouth and dropped it to her side. She was a nervous wreck. It was the day of the lawsuit against Amber and Avery didn’t know if she had ever been more nervous. She had never appeared in court before besides the day she got married. This was completely different. She couldn’t mess this up for Debra or herself.

She had dressed in a black blazer and pants before waking up Bailey to feed her before she had to rush out the door. Debra was also in a blazer and heels and she had spent the first part of the morning making multiple phone calls. Avery wished more than anything that her wife would pay attention to her, but she always knew to take what she could get.

“Bailey, please eat,” Avery told the toddler who was busy trying to stack her Cheerios. 

“No!” Bailey shouted gleefully. 

Avery sighed in desperation. “Debra could you please-”

She looked over at Debra who was shouting angrily into her phone. The morning was hectic and nothing seemed to be getting done. Bailey refused to get out of bed until Debra had forced her to by picking her up. The action only made Bailey scream but the anger was quickly replaced with excitement when Avery handed her Cheerios. 

“We’re here!” A voice shouted in the hallway. 

“Thank fuck,” Avery muttered and walked over to greet her friends. She ran her hands nervously through her hair. 

“Hey,” Lily said. 

“Hey,” Avery greeted her. 

“You nervous?” Lily asked. 

“No, why?” Avery said. She crossed her arms in defense. 

“You only run your hands through your hair when you’re nervous. Plus you bit your nails to the nubs,” Lily explained, poking Avery’s finger. 

Avery sighed. “Bailey won’t eat and I’ve tried everything. And Debra won’t get off the phone.”

“Why don’t you go see what’s going on and try to calm her?” Lily suggested. “Lead me to my favorite niece and we’ll get her to eat.”

“Yeah, we’ve got this,” Amanda nodded confidently. 

They walked to the kitchen where Bailey had knocked off all the Cheerios on her high chair tray. Snowflake was still cleaning up the mess and Debra had barely noticed. 

“Hey little bugger, you’re supposed to eat those,” Amanda said, ruffling Bailey’s hair. 

Bailey jerked her head happily to see her aunts sitting next to her. Amanda grabbed the box of Cheerios and poured a few more onto Bailey’s tray and poured a few for herself and Lily to show Bailey how to eat. 

Avery left them alone to their business and found Debra in their home office. She was shoving things into her bag. 

“We’ve gotta go,” Debra said. She didn’t even look up at Avery but still managed to whisk her out the door quickly. 

“Hey!” Lily yelled. “You’ve got this!”

Avery smiled softly before being pushed out the door. 

* * *

Cameras were shoved in Avery’s face as she stepped out of the car. She searched for Debra’s help but even the tiny woman could only do so much. It was Steve, Avery’s personal security guard, that came to the rescue. 

“Avery! Is it true your house was broken into?” A guy asked, snapping pictures as she walked up to the courthouse. 

“Other side of me,” Debra hissed out and Avery didn’t have to be told twice to move. Steve stepped protectively to the side of Avery that Debra wasn’t on.

“Back away!” Steve barked. The paparazzi listened, but the camera flashes didn’t stop. 

Avery held a hand to her face, blocking it. She cursed at herself for forgetting that this would probably happen. She was at the top of the charts when it came to her music and she had been in the limelight for almost a decade now. She knew the consequences of having her private life spilled to the public.

When they stepped inside the courthouse, Avery sighed in relief at the privacy she was given. Debra walked in front of Avery, ready for business. She stopped when she saw the lawyer she had spoken to.

“Claire,” Debra barked out. Claire looked up, her piercing green eyes stared back at Debra, ready for anything that the cruel woman might throw at her. 

Claire had a sleek natural red ponytail that fell down her back. Freckles stood out on her pale skin and she towered over both Debra and Avery. Avery couldn’t find one wrinkle in her business suit and secretly felt like a mess next to her. 

“You sure you got your shit together?” Debra asked, looking the taller woman up and down.

“I’m the best lawyer money can buy. If you didn’t think so, I wouldn’t be here.” Claire turned to Avery. “Avery, how are we feeling?” She asked. The look of defense had disappeared and a comforting smile had taken its place.

“Nervous,” Avery admitted.

Claire reached out and squeezed Avery’s shoulder reassuringly.

“We’ll get them,” She winked.

Avery appreciated the gesture but she couldn’t help but wish that her wife was the one offering the reassuring words. The only person in the room who Avery cared about the most, was in a different world and she was wondering if that person even cared at all about her in this situation.

  
  


* * *

Avery and Debra sat down in the Judge’s Chambers at the table along with Claire. They waited impatiently for Amber and her own lawyer to arrive. When they did, Avery immediately noticed the handcuffs on Amber’s wrists. She was still wearing an orange jumpsuit. Her blonde hair had been growing out to the point where the top of her hair was brown and the dark circles under her eyes proved that she was getting little sleep in prison. When everyone was situated, the judge began.

Avery picked nervously at her pants. She would have never been in this room if it weren’t for Debra. Debra always had a way of fighting back, no matter the situation but Avery was someone who would rather sit back and watch from afar. With Debra, that wasn’t an option. Avery was expected to be on top of her game at all times. 

Debra was staring off into space, thinking about the money that would be coming in shortly. She had no doubt that they would win. She could only think about what would be at her fingertips in a short amount of time. Maybe the whole beachfront or a new Buick.

Avery watched as the lawyers fought, Claire firing retorts to every claim made by the defense. It was almost overwhelming, the two women having near-immediate responses to each jab, counters to each lie and looks that could kill. Amber’s lawyer was insisting that Amber did nothing wrong and Claire’s case was basically arguing itself, everyone in the room knew who was going to win this battle. It was just a matter of time before the winner of the lawsuit was announced. 

Avery looked over at Amber. Amber was staring at her lap while her lawyer argued with Claire. Avery couldn’t help but feel bad for Amber. Amber had gotten caught up in the wrong hands and was now paying for it. She wondered what Amber was feeling behind her stone cold face. Was she nervous? Or was she just as confident as Claire was, expecting to win?

The last time Debra had sued someone was Jack Malik for taking someone else’s songs. She had won the lawsuit. Just like then, she wasn’t afraid of Amber. Amber was someone who had made a fatal mistake when committing a crime and Debra was ready to make sure that she would know just how big of a mistake she made for the rest of her life.

  
  


* * *

After what had seemed like hours, the judge had decided that Avery and Debra had in fact won the case. Avery had let out a sigh of relief. It was something that she had held onto since the minute she found the open safe. Debra grinned and pulled Avery into her side, giving her a kiss on the forehead. For the first time in months, Avery had felt like she had finally made her wife proud and the rare smile seemed to prove that. Debra had looked the happiest since the break in.

But Avery couldn’t ignore the feeling in her gut. It had been close this time, their marriage had been tested. Feeling like another mistake could end their marriage, Avery pushed the tears away that had threatened to come to the surface. Now was not the time to cry and she didn’t know when the appropriate time to do so was.

When they had arrived home, Avery quickly found herself in Lily and Amanda’s arms, congratulating her on winning the lawsuit. She politely thanked them and took her daughter back, who had managed to eat both breakfast and lunch and was now in need for a nap. Avery wasn’t far behind her, letting out a yawn.

* * *

Avery lowered herself in the jacuzzi, watching Debra follow her in. They both held champagne glasses. It was their way of celebrating the win they had achieved after Bailey was put in bed for the night.

“We haven’t used this in forever,” Debra commented.

“I haven’t had the energy to do anything extra,” Avery commented.

Debra snorted and agreed. Avery had noticed the smile on her face from the courthouse had never left her face. Avery was happy too, but the gut feeling that had formed earlier hadn’t left, just like Debra’s smile.

“You’re very smiley,” Avery pointed out.

“I keep telling you, Avery. Dollar signs fix everything,” Debra said and took a sip of her champagne. 

Avery froze but quickly covered it up by taking a sip of her own drink. She had known from the minute they had met that Debra was money obsessed. She sighed and accepted the truth. As much as she tried, the thing that made Debra the happiest was money.

But she couldn’t call Debra out on it. Debra was happy and that’s all Avery wanted. Who cared what made her wife happy? As long as she wasn’t on the verge of being yelled at, Avery could live without being her wife’s number one reason for her happiness. Besides, she had just won a major lawsuit. She should be just as happy as Debra. 

Avery snuggled up against Debra’s body, taking in her warmth as Debra wrapped her arm around Avery. She sighed as Debra kissed her temple and she reminded herself, this is what she signed up for. She had everything she wanted. A successful singing career, friends, and her own family. It was time for her to start being grateful.


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue to Don't Let Me Down.

“Amanda, you may kiss your wife,” The priest said and Amanda happily pulled Lily close to her and connected their lips.

Avery cheered and clapped loudly. Her best friend was now married! She was over the moon about the event and couldn’t be happier for her best friend. Lily finally got her fairytale wedding she had been dreaming about. Debra clapped politely. As the cheers broke the silence of the room, Bailey’s eyes grew huge. She was scared of the noises and nearly began to cry. Luckily Avery came to the rescue and rubbed the little girl’s back to soothe her.

“How’s my flower girl?” Lily asked at the reception. Avery was holding her so she wouldn’t run off.

“Still sad she wasn’t allowed to eat the flowers,” Avery said. Debra snorted.

“Fwers,” Bailey said, sadly. She looked down and played with her dress.

“Next time,” Amanda promised the girl.

“Should we sit and eat?” Debra suggested and the group agreed. They all sat at the same table together and the servers came out with the appetizers for them and the rest of the guests. Avery had let Bailey eat off her plate since she was already a picky eater. Debra wasn’t a huge eater herself and picked off the plate when the main dishes came.

“I’m going to miss you while you’re away,” Avery told Lily and Amanda.

“We’ll be back before you know it,” Amanda said.

“Yeah but…”

Avery didn’t want to take the excitement away from Lily and Amanda, but things were different after the lawsuit. The relationship between her and Debra was awkward and even though Debra was now happy with the results of the lawsuit, Avery still knew deep down that Debra blamed her for the break in. The thing that was keeping Avery sane was that they were safe. Amber was thrown back in prison and with the safety of Debra’s lawyers, they knew they would never hear from her again. But even though they were protected, that didn’t stop anxiety from creeping in.

Lily leaned over and squeezed Avery’s hand comfortingly. Avery knew that she could call her best friend anytime and she would be there. She had been blessed with Lily and Amanda.

“We’re here for you,” Lily smiled.

“Thank you,” Avery said.

“Your daughter is trying to eat my flowers again,” Amanda said.

Avery looked down to see that Amanda was right. Bailey had just stuffed a pink flower in her mouth. Debra snapped her fingers in front of Bailey’s face.

“Drop that!” Debra snapped.

“She’s not a dog,” Lily laughed.

“That damn dog listens better than her,” Debra grumbled.

Avery rolled her eyes and took the flower away. Bailey let out a whine, sadly looking at the flower that was being taken away. As guests started finishing their meals, the DJ came and the room filled with music as it was time for Lily and Amanda’s first dance. The guests cleared the floor and the brides took their spot on the floor.

Avery watched with envy as Lily and Amanda danced in circles, looking at each other with love. If she were being honest, she had forgotten the last time that she felt truly loved by Debra and not just because she had won the lawsuit. With Amanda and Lily, the love they held was real and Avery couldn’t help but crave that.

Avery looked at Debra. She wasn’t watching their friends dance. She was staring into space, holding Bailey in her lap. Avery wondered what she was thinking about. But most of all, Avery wondered if Debra missed Avery the same way Avery missed her.

As the soft song came to an end, the newly married couple kissed and a faster paced song was played, allowing for everyone to dance as they pleased. Everyone danced and even Debra got up to dance with Bailey for a song. Cake was served along with endless amounts of alcohol and Avery slowly felt her slipping away from being sober.

“I wish you loved me like that,” Avery muttered out.

“What did you just say?” Debra asked, although she had heard what Avery said. Bailey reached for her earrings to grab but Debra grabbed her hand.

“I said I wish you loved me like that,” Avery repeated.

“You’re done with this,” Debra said and grabbed the champagne glass out of Avery’s hand before finishing it off herself and continuing. “I do love you.”

Avery shook her head. “Not like that.”

“I’m proud of you,” Debra said. “You won that lawsuit.”

Tears threatened to spill from Avery’s eyes. All she was to Debra was a way to get money. Not a wife. Avery walked away from her wife before Debra could see the tears pooling in Avery’s eyes. Instead, she distracted herself by dancing with her friends, eating more cake, and even having a little more alcohol.

Eventually the party died down and guests were getting tired. Avery helped hand out the party favors that each guest got. Inside was a small bottle of champagne, a handwritten note from Lily, and a beautiful flower from Hawaii, which was where they were going for their honeymoon.   
  


“I’ll see you in a month,” Avery said, hugging her best friend closely.

“Call me if you need anything,” Lily said. “ _ Anything _ .”

Avery promised by nodding and gave Bailey the party favor bag to play with since the champagne was sealed. She babbled a song she liked on the radio and held Debra’s hand as they crossed the street to get to their car. Avery buckled in once she made sure Bailey was safe in her own car and Debra had decided to drive, only having had one drink.

“Avery, we need to talk,” Debra said.

“No we don’t,” Avery said, looking out the window.

“Yes, we do,” Debra said.

“Just leave it, Debra,” Avery sighed, still refusing to look at her wife.

“Avery I’m not asking,” Debra said and turned to Bailey in the mirror. “Bailey, stop eating the flowers!”

Bailey yanked the plant away from her mouth in fear.

“Avery-”

“Drop it Debra,” Avery said and this time, Debra did.

Avery closed her eyes. She missed her wife more than anything in the world. She would go to the end of the world to get her wife back. She loved her wife with everything in her but she had come to realize how exhausted she was from loving someone a whole lot more than they loved her. But deep down inside, she knew it had to get worse before it got better.


End file.
